Okowa Hails Nigeria’s Three Athletics Gold Medals at Dakar 2026 as Proof of Grassroots Progress

Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) President Tonobok Okowa has described Team Nigeria’s three gold medals in athletics at the 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal, as evidence of improving grassroots sports development.

Nigeria finished fourth in the overall athletics medal standings with three gold medals, behind Ethiopia, which topped the table with five gold and three silver medals. China finished second, while Kenya occupied third position.

Okowa expressed satisfaction with the athletes’ performances, particularly considering Nigeria’s relatively small contingent of about five athletes 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 (CAA), believes the results demonstrate that the federation’s efforts to identify and nurture young talents are beginning to produce 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 (NSC), coaches, technical officials and AFN members, describing their collective efforts as instrumental to the team’s progress.

However, he stressed the need for stronger institutional support and improved funding to sustain the development programme, insisting that Nigeria must look beyond success at age-grade competitions.

“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 AFN plans to return the emerging talents to camp early next year, with a three-phase preparation programme already discussed with the NSC.

According to him, structured and early preparation will be crucial to improving the athletes’ performances and positioning them for success at future international competitions.

He identified next year’s African U-18 and U-20 Championships as a major priority, emphasising the need to adequately prepare the young athletes for the continental assignment.

“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.

“Next year, we have the African U-18/U-20 Championships, so we need to prepare these young athletes to represent us well. We cannot do all this without adequate funding, and we need the NSC to support us so that we can achieve our plans.”

The AFN president maintained that Nigeria’s achievements in Dakar would serve as motivation for greater investment in athletics development, pledging to intensify the federation’s grassroots programme.

He reiterated that the ultimate ambition is to develop a new generation of Nigerian athletes capable of winning medals at the Olympic Games and World Championships.