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Atlanta ’96 Olympics bronze medallist,
Falilat Ogunkoya has blamed Nigeria’s
poor performance at the just concluded
IAAF World Athletics Championship in
London on coaches.
The Nigerian team failed to win a medal in
London and Ogunkoya, a 400m gold
medalist at Jo’burg ’99 All Africa Games,
believes the athletes were poorly
managed by the coaches.
Ogunkoya, whose personal
best and African record of 49.10
seconds at Atlanta ’96 Olympics remains
the twelfth fastest of all time, said that
Nigeria could have grabbed at least a
bronze medal in London but the coaches
‘messed up’ the opportunity.
In particular, Ogunkoya was unhappy with
the manner the coaches ‘bungled’
Team Nigeria’s chances in the final of the
women’s 4x400m relay on Sunday.
“When the girls qualified for final in the
4x400m relay, I told some few friends
around me that Nigeria will surely win a
medal in the final.
I never knew that the
coaches would come up with a formation
that will scuttle the whole plan,” Ogunkoya
stated.
In the semifinals, Nigeria’s 4x400m
women’s team made up of Patience Okon
George, Onome Nathaniel, Emerald Egwim
and Yinka Ajayi ran a fantastic race with
3.25.40 seconds,a season’s best for the
quartet, to emerge second behind
winners, Jamaica
(3:23:64) in Heat 2.
As at the time of the semifinal, one of
Nigeria’s athletes for the championship,
Abike Egbeniyi was still battling with visa
problems back home. She joined the team
a few hours to the final.
The anticipation in many quarters before
the final race on Sunday was that the team
should be able to pick a medal of any
colour for Nigeria if the
athletes could add a little bite to their
performance in the semi.
“In the first place, I don’t know the reason
why the coaches decided to drop one of
the athletes for Abike who just
arrived the camp few hours to the final
race,” Ogunkoya fumed.
“Again, I don’t know the rationale behind
the decision to allow Patience Okon
George to start
the race.
She was the most experienced
among the athletes, and an experienced
coach should have prepared Okon
George for the anchor leg.”
The Nigerians posted 3.26.72 seconds to
place fifth in the final, a performance
Ogunkoya said was far below expectation.
“After one of the Jamaican athletes
suffered a misfortune in the
final, the medal was there for Nigeria to
pick, if only an experienced athlete like
Okon George was running the anchor leg.
I felt so disappointed, not with the
athletes but the coaches. You can see that
the time our girls ran in the
semifinal was good enough to fetch
Nigeria a medal in the championship.”
Falilat Ogunkoya has blamed Nigeria’s
poor performance at the just concluded
IAAF World Athletics Championship in
London on coaches.
The Nigerian team failed to win a medal in
London and Ogunkoya, a 400m gold
medalist at Jo’burg ’99 All Africa Games,
believes the athletes were poorly
managed by the coaches.
Ogunkoya, whose personal
best and African record of 49.10
seconds at Atlanta ’96 Olympics remains
the twelfth fastest of all time, said that
Nigeria could have grabbed at least a
bronze medal in London but the coaches
‘messed up’ the opportunity.
In particular, Ogunkoya was unhappy with
the manner the coaches ‘bungled’
Team Nigeria’s chances in the final of the
women’s 4x400m relay on Sunday.
“When the girls qualified for final in the
4x400m relay, I told some few friends
around me that Nigeria will surely win a
medal in the final.
I never knew that the
coaches would come up with a formation
that will scuttle the whole plan,” Ogunkoya
stated.
In the semifinals, Nigeria’s 4x400m
women’s team made up of Patience Okon
George, Onome Nathaniel, Emerald Egwim
and Yinka Ajayi ran a fantastic race with
3.25.40 seconds,a season’s best for the
quartet, to emerge second behind
winners, Jamaica
(3:23:64) in Heat 2.
As at the time of the semifinal, one of
Nigeria’s athletes for the championship,
Abike Egbeniyi was still battling with visa
problems back home. She joined the team
a few hours to the final.
The anticipation in many quarters before
the final race on Sunday was that the team
should be able to pick a medal of any
colour for Nigeria if the
athletes could add a little bite to their
performance in the semi.
“In the first place, I don’t know the reason
why the coaches decided to drop one of
the athletes for Abike who just
arrived the camp few hours to the final
race,” Ogunkoya fumed.
“Again, I don’t know the rationale behind
the decision to allow Patience Okon
George to start
the race.
She was the most experienced
among the athletes, and an experienced
coach should have prepared Okon
George for the anchor leg.”
The Nigerians posted 3.26.72 seconds to
place fifth in the final, a performance
Ogunkoya said was far below expectation.
“After one of the Jamaican athletes
suffered a misfortune in the
final, the medal was there for Nigeria to
pick, if only an experienced athlete like
Okon George was running the anchor leg.
I felt so disappointed, not with the
athletes but the coaches. You can see that
the time our girls ran in the
semifinal was good enough to fetch
Nigeria a medal in the championship.”
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