Elegbeleye foresees better outing in Glasgow

Barely four months to this year’s Commonwealth Games slated for Glasgow, Scotland, the National Sports Commission (NSC) has vowed to ensure that Nigeria surpass their feat at 2010 Games held at Delhi, India, as well as in subsequent competitions.
Nigeria won a total of 35 medals comprising of 11 gold, 10 silver and 14 bronze in Delhi and was placed in the 9th position among other 36 member-countries that participated at the event.

Ahead of the next event which will be its 20th edition, director-general of NSC, Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye, said efforts were in top gear as all the various federations that would be part of the Commonwealth Games are already preparing their athletes.

The former House of Representatives member also confirmed that many of “our athletes are currently participating in several championships as a way of preparing them ahead of the Commonwealth Games. As I talk to you now, many of our athletes, boxers, wrestlers are taking part in a competition in Dubai and when they return, they will assemble here in Abuja to continue camping.

“Table tennis players are not left out; they are currently in Egypt for another championship. We will keep exposing them to gain more experience. I personally believe that we need to do better and get more medals in this year’s Games. We won 11 gold at Delhi and won’t want to go below or equal that. Our determination is to surpass our previous records.

“We are focused on what we want to achieve at Commonwealth Games and 2016 Olympics. That is why we don’t want to be distracted concerning other sports which we won’t be part of.