Nigerian athletics is traditionally sprints oriented and perhaps this is why, the country is yet to make any impact in the long distance events even as there are abundant and naturally endowed talents waiting to be discovered.
Producing world champions is the sports legacy Cross River State governor, Liyel Imoke wants to leave behind when he finally fades from the corridors of power.
Imoke said that in the next five years Nigeria should boost of quality long distance runners that could challenge those from Ethiopia and Kenya who have for eternity dominated the world scene and even the six-year old Obudu Mountain race.
His enthusiasm is fueled by the fact that world distance champions like Halie Gebrselassie were trained to become who they are and secondly; on top of the Obudu mountain there are kids who have shown traits of long distance running..
“We have identify about nine kids we want to train to become world champions. They are from the Obudu mountain area, which interestingly has the same climatic conditions with that of high altitude Ethiopia and Kenya.
“The kids are been put through school as a first step. If you are not in school you cannot get into the progamme, because it is meant to be a high performance training.
“Right now we have put a lot of things in place to see that the training goes on. Even when a governor who does not love the mountains takes over, the programme can still go,” said Imoke..
But for these kids and others to imbibe the culture of long distance running there has not be regular local competitions for them.
“We are partnering with the Athletics Federation of Nigeria to run national development progammes. There is a need for national championships to keep the kids busy.
“Certainly our aim is to produce world and Olympic champions. And so it is not just going to all training and no competition to run in.”
Source:http://www.vanguardngr.com/
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