Former Commonwealth boxing champion, Obisia Nwamkpa, has urged the National Sports Commission (NSC) to commence immediate preparation for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
The Games are scheduled to run from August 5 to August 21 in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
“If we have to have a good outing at the next Olympics, the preparation should start immediately,’’ Nwamkpa, a former Commonwealth champion said in Lagos.
According to him, early preparation will help to put the boxers in proper shape toward surpassing their performance at the last African Games. The 11th African Games were just held in Brazzaville, Congo at which they won four gold and two silver medals.
The coach said the Olympic Games were a bigger event compared to the African Games. “The Games will require thorough preparation, if we want our boxers to do well. The best of amateur across the globe will be participating. So, early and good preparation is key to a successful outing in Brazil.”
He urged the NSC to provide all the necessary equipment, facilities and logistics to aid the preparation of the boxers.
“The NSC must begin preparations of other sports that will be representing the country at the Games now, to enable them to improve on their skills. Also series of training programmes should be arranged for them within and outside the country.
“Our performance at the African Games should inspire the NSC to improve on our preparation because it is a way of building them up, ahead of the task. We should not go to sleep because we placed second at the African Games. if we had robustly, we could have swept the medals in boxing event at the Congo Games,” he said.
Nwamkpa suggested that technical officials should be asked to draw up comprehensive training programmes before commencement of the camping.
He urged the NSC to ensure that coaches to handle the team would be selected on merit. “The coaches should mandated to provide their curriculum vitae, so as to ensure they have what it takes to be part of the team.
“Their documents should be critically verified, their experience – past records and current performance should be used to select coaches for the national job,’’ Nwankpa said.
“We must device effective means to ensure that our athletes get quality training from seasoned coaches that will influence their performance at the Olympics,” he added.
Nwankpa, enjoined the administrators to make welfare of the athletes top priority while preparing for the Games.
