Okowa hails Nigerian youngsters after Dakar athletics success

President of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, Tonobok Okowa

President of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, Tonobok Okowa, has praised the country’s young athletes after their impressive outing at the 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal, calling their performances evidence of improving grassroots sports development.

Nigeria secured three athletics gold medals through Gift Bright, Rosemary Nwankwo and Praise Ugoh, finishing fourth in the overall athletics standings.

Bright claimed the men’s 100m gold in a Games-record time of 10.28 seconds, while Nwankwo won the women’s 100m in 11.16 seconds to complete a historic sprint double for the country.

Ugoh added the third gold medal after winning the women’s 400m in a personal best of 52.76 seconds.

Reacting to the team’s performance, Okowa expressed satisfaction with the athletes’ efforts, particularly considering Nigeria’s relatively small contingent at the competition.

“For us, it was a good outing. Some of the events where we had an advantage did not go our way, and that was not peculiar to Nigeria alone. We went there with about five athletes, and they performed well,” Okowa said.

The AFN president, who is also a senior vice-president of the Confederation of African Athletics, said the results demonstrated that the federation’s investment in identifying and developing young talents was beginning to yield positive results.

“We can categorically say that the performance shows that our work in grassroots sports development is getting better. We will continue to work hard, and I will not relent in grooming these athletes until they attain stardom,” he added.

Okowa also acknowledged the contributions of the National Sports Commission, coaches, technical officials and AFN members, noting that their collective efforts had played an important role in the team’s achievements.

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He, however, called for stronger institutional support and improved funding to sustain the country’s progress in athletics.

“Our target is to win gold medals at the Olympic Games and World Championships. We can only achieve that by working harder and continuously improving Team Nigeria Athletics,” he stated.

Looking ahead, Okowa disclosed that the federation planned to bring the athletes into camp early next year as part of preparations for upcoming international competitions.

He said a three-phase camping programme had been discussed with the National Sports Commission to ensure adequate preparation and improve the athletes’ performances.

“We need to bring them into camp again in the early part of next year. As planned with the NSC, we should have three phases of camping. That will always help the athletes,” he said.

The AFN boss identified next year’s African U-18 and U-20 Championships as a major priority, stressing the importance of preparing the emerging athletes for future continental assignments.

He added that adequate funding and sustained support would be necessary to achieve the federation’s objectives.

Nigeria’s three gold medals in Dakar have further raised hopes about the country’s athletics future, with Okowa expressing determination to nurture the young talents into world-class competitors.