TEAM Nigeria recorded 121 medals to finish second on the medals table at the 13th African Games held in Ghana.
Compared with the previous edition in 2019, the awards were short of nine, that is, 130 medals won in the previous edition held in Rabat, Morocco in 2019, The ICIR check shows.
The continental multi-sports showpiece, which began on Friday, March 8 and ended on Saturday, March 23, saw a high-level display of skills among 45 countries that participated in the Games.
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Results of the countries on the medals’ table showed Egypt’s continuous dominance of the Games as they won 102 gold, 47 silver and 42 bronze to top the table with 191 medals while Nigeria finished behind with 47 gold, 34 silver and 40 bronze to record 121 medals.
Team Nigeria participated in 23 sports at the edition, including arm-wrestling, badminton, athletics, basketball 3×3, beach volleyball, boxing and chess.
Others are cricket, cycling, football, handball, hockey, judo, karate, rugby, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, triathlon, volleyball, weightlifting and wrestling.
The ICIR reports that Team Nigeria won medals in 18 out of the 23 sports it participated in.
Team Nigeria, with a total of 437 athletes won medals in arm wrestling (13), athletics (22), badminton (six), basketball (one), beach volley (one), boxing (10), chess (two), cricket (one), cycling (two), football (one), handball (one), hockey (one), Judo (one), swimming (one), table tennis (six), taekwondo (six), tennis (two), weightlifting (32), wrestling (11).
Meanwhile, Team Nigeria participated in 22 sports with 306 athletes to win 130 medals from 13 sports in 2019.
Finishing second has now become our target – Sports analyst
In an interview with The ICIR, a sports analyst, Lekan Okusan, described Team Nigeria’s performance in Ghana as below par, noting lack of adequate preparation as the reason for the country’s underperformance.
“In general, Nigeria did very well but we could have done better if our athletes had enough preparation coupled with motivation before the games. Finishing second has now become our target, whereas we should be aiming for the top spot considering our pedigree and our athletes’ quality.
“We are not improving but just accept our faith as second fiddle,” he said.