The dismal performance of Team Nigeria at the just concluded 29th Olympiad in Beijing is no longer news.
Nigeria placed 61st on the medals table with one silver and three bronze.
For national sports administrators, the dismal performance of the athletes is traceable to inadequate preparation for the games.
But critics are quick to ask how long it takes a nation to prepare for a global fiesta that comes up every four years.
Nesta Johanson, head of the Jamaican study group for the 2004 Athens Olympics, says that his country used the lessons of Athens to prepare for the Beijing Games.
‘’We had a study group consisting of six members that was in Athens to study our athletes’ weakness and strength, comparing them with the performance of other
athletes at the games.
‘’The outcome of that study was what we used in preparing our athletes for the Beijing Games,’’ Johanson says.
According to him, the Jamaican Athletics Federation and the Sports Institute draw up a programme that engages athletes from the school level.
‘’What we did after the games in Athens was that the Sports Institute and the Athletics Federation drew up a programme that throws up the athletes to engage in school sports competitions.
“A well though-out programme was designed for some of the athletes discovered from the schools competitions.
“In fact, we had a three-year training programme, including attendance at competitions and meets,’’ Johanson says.
Most of the Jamaican male and female sprinters, he says, were already in top form before the Beijing Games.
“A year to the Beijing Games, most of our athletes were at their top form; they were running sub-nine and 10 seconds.
‘’That was the reason we had three sprinters in the finals of the 100 metres event in both the male and female categories,’’ he says.
Jamaica’s investment in sports development paid off in the Beijing Games as the athletes dominated the sprint events, breaking three records in the 100
metres, 200 metres and the men’s 4x100 metres relay events.
Such performance reinforces the question by critics about what it takes to prepare athletes for the Olympics.
Ahmed Yahaya, the Director of Technical and Coaching, National Sports Commission
(NSC), says that the lack of adequate preparation and misplaced priorities are the main problems hindering Nigeria’s performance at international sports competitions.
“There is no doubt that we have the talents everywhere who can do the country proud in any major games, but the lack of adequate preparation and misplaced
priorities are our problems.
‘’The era of countries participating in major games for mere participation is gone.
Countries now identify their areas of strength and concentrate on them.
“One gold medal won in any major sports competition is more than 40 silver medals,’’ Yayaha says.
According to him, preparation for a major sports fiesta requires a lot of investment in material and human resources.
‘’Preparation requires a lot of money for talent identification, coaching and attendance at pre-games competitions.
‘’I must tell you that most of our coaches are outdated and need to be retrained; you do not give what you do not have.
‘’Sports is now science and requires sound minds and intellectual capability.
This was demonstrated in Beijing.
‘’If we must make an impact in London in 2012, we must identify the sports in which we have comparative advantage, concentrate on them, enter into arrangements with foreign technical partners in those sports to come and train our coaches here and be with the federation for a number of years.
‘’This is not new to us; we had it in the 1980s when we had coaches from Cuba and Bulgaria.
‘’That was the period that Nigeria not only dominated the continent in boxing, wrestling and weightlifting, but also did well in the world,’’ Yahaya recalls.
Bello Sulaiman, the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Sports, lays the blame for the nation’s poor performance in Beijing on the NSC.
He says this is because of the NSC’s failure to include the budget for the preparation and participation of athletes for the Beijing Games in the 2008 budget.
‘’There was no provision for our participation and preparation in the 2008 budget.
Olympic Games hold every four years. We knew we were participating and there was no provision in the budget.
‘’It was at the National Assembly that the issue of funds for Nigeria’s participation in the Olympics was raised and N1.7 billion was approved.
‘’By the time approval was given and cash backing provided, it was almost late to achieve any meaningful result.
‘’Other countries were not waiting for us; some of them started their preparation immediately after the Athens Olympics four years ago,’’ Sulaiman says.
Banji Oladapo, the Secretary-General, Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), says the time to prepare for the 2012 London Olympics is now.
‘’I must commend our athletes for their commitment and determination at the Beijing Olympic Games, our performance not withstanding.
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