Paris 2024-PCN boss predicts exceptional outings for para-athletes
Table Tennis Star, A. Koleosho of Nigeria
By Rasheed Adewuyi
Sunday, Odebode, President of the Paralympics Committee Nigeria (PCN), has predicted a better and brighter future for para-athletes this year.
Nigeria will participate in the forthcoming Paralympics Games scheduled to be held in Paris, France.
Odebode, in his New Year message to Nigeria para-athletes, said that the Committee is doing all within its capabilities to ensure that the athletes make it to the podium at the Games and other international meets this year. It would be recalled that some athletes from the para table tennis federation have already qualified for the games and athletics.
The para table tennis division has already qualified nine athletes for the Paris 2024 Paralympic games and hopes to qualify more with the qualification windows open in the first quarter of this year.
The qualification for para powerlifting and para Badminton, which is based on ranking, is still ongoing, and we are confident that the eight athletes on the pathway will be able to pick their ticket at the end of their qualifiers, which will end in June.
The sport of para-badminton is also doing everything possible to qualify for the Paralympic games in Paris, as most of the top athletes have attended the mandatory three international tournaments as specified by the Badminton World Federation BWF.
He also disclosed that the athletes prepare well to make the country proud at the All Africa Games slated for Accra, Ghana, in March and other international meets.
The PCN boss, who commended the minister of sports for his vision and aspirations to take sports to the highest level, informed that para-athletes will qualify for more events for Paris 2024 and expressed optimism that the athletes will record more medals at the Games than in previous editions.
‘We are fully prepared for the Games, and I am optimistic that Nigeria will perform better at the Games than the previous ones, and we shall do well this year at various sporting meets and the All Africa Games”, he said.
