The President of Armwrestling Federation of Nigeria, Engineer Samuel Olatunji Jackson has revealed that the country decided not to contest all categories at the recent West Africa Para-Games in order not to win every gold medal available.
Engineer Jackson reckoned that winning all gold medals in The Rock City would have portrayed Nigeria as bad hosts, hence the decision to skip some of the categories that were contested.
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He disclosed this during ‘Hot Seat’ segment of Inside Naija Sports, a live streaming programme on YouTube, which starts at 11:45am every Friday from the studio of Sports247 Naija TV.
Jackson pointed out that the natural physical attributes of the average Nigerian make them well suited for sports events that require muscles and strength, which is one reason why the country’s athletes excel in various categories of armwrestling contests.
He expatiated, “Nigeria has the potential to do well in most combat sports, including armwrestling, because of our natural attributes and power.
“One good thing about us is that, in whatever sport we find ourselves, we have the natural body strength for it. We also have a body weight that is good for any combat sport.”
He disclosed further that the Nigerian contingent at the recent para-games in Abeokuta won seven out of the ten gold medals available even after the rules were changed at the last minute and some of their athletes had to be upgraded to heavier categories.
The trained civil engineer, who lived in England for several years, added: “We did not expect that we would get those seven gold medals, because the rules of engagement were changed when we got to Abeokuta. However, the Nigerian mentality of never-say-die helped us.
“We even had to move one athlete from 55kg to 70kg class, but the person still won a gold medal for us. We also realised that if we had put our athletes into each of the categories, we would have won all of them.
“But, as good hosts, we are not selfish. So, we allowed some of the other countries to win medals as well,” joked Jackson, who also hinted that the federation’s next target is to host a global competition.
