The president of Nigeria Shooting Sports Federation (NSSF), Navy Captain Bamidele Olatunji Ayoade has unfolded what he believes is a smooth approach that will help the country have an appearance at the next Olympic Games.
Sports247 reports that Navy Captain Ayoade is already banking on many angles of experience gained by the federation in the past, especially when their efforts towards making it to the 2024 Games in Paris fell flat.
Although he admitted that funding is always a major hurdle that the shooting sports federation still has to overcome, Ayoade promised that all their efforts will be better this time out.
Ayoade recounted, “In 2021, our target was to ensure we were at the 2024 Olympics, but we were not able to meet our target. Most of our challenges were funding.
“To get an athlete to perform at the world stage, you need to camp for an extended period of time, and you need to go in for several competitions. That will help you ward away fear and anxiety.”
While reflecting on issues that stopped the sport form featuring for Nigeria at Paris 2024, Ayoade also noted how technical matters and logistics affected the federation’s athletes and officials, but assured that those errors will not be repeated heading into Los Angeles 2028.
Ayoade continued, “We were not able to achieve our build-up to the 2024 Olympics mostly because of inexperience. That was seen when another obstacle came from the process of moving arms internationally.
“We had a major challenge in Dubai, which led to a situation in which our athletes could not compete with their weapons at a competition in Baku, Azerbaijan. All these issues taught us useful lessons.”
He concluded with an assurance that lessons learnt from past errors will now guide the shooting sports federation towards a successful presentation of at least one of their shooters to represent Nigeria at the 2028 Olympiad.
“We learnt from those mistakes that we made in the past, and we believe, after addressing them, they will all help us to perform better. That’s why we are now assuring Nigerians that we will be at the next Olympics with at least one athlete,” Ayoade stated emphatically.
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