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The Nigeria Olympics Committee (NOC) said that Nigeria would be represented by no fewer than 358 athletes in 25 sports at the 13th African Games.
Tony Nezianya, the Public Relations Officer of NOC, stated this in a statement made available to Blueprint Sport on Monday.
He said that the games would be held from March 8 to 23 in Accra, Kumasi, and Cape Coast.
According to him, the athletes, officially accredited on Monday, will be spread across various venues in Accra, Kumasi, and Cape Coast, all vying for glory on the continental stage.
“Nigeria is competing in 25 sports at the event. Nigerian athletes were accredited at the delegation registration meeting conducted on March 4,” he said.
According to breakdown, leading the charge with 50 athletes, Nigeria will be looking to dominate on the track and field.
World record holder in the 100m hurdles event, Tobiloba Amusan, is arguably the biggest name on the roster as she will be looking to extend her unrivalled dominance on the continent.
Ruth Usoro, Favour Ofili and Ese Brume are all also among the athletes listed to represent Nigeria in Ghana.
Though just with the prospect of only two medals, the male and female football teams boast of the country’s second-largest contingent with 20 players each.
The Flying Eagles and Falconets will be representing Nigeria.
According to the breakdown, Team Taekwondo, Wrestling, and Karate have the highest number of individual sports athletes, each having 14, while Arm Wrestling has 15 athletes.
Weightlifting and badminton both have a 12-member team, while boxing has 11 pugilists, judo has 10, and Scrabble has 8 members.
They are as follows:Arm Wrestling – 15 athletes, Athletics – 50, Badminton – 12,
Basketball 3 x 3 – 4 Female, Beach Volleyball – 4, Boxing – 11, Chess – 4, Cricket – 15
Cycling – 12, Hockey – 32.
Others are Football with 40, Handball – 14, Judo – 10, Karate – 14, Mixed Martial Arts – 4, Rugby – 16, Scrabble – 8, Swimming – 4, Table Tennis – 10, Taekwondo – 14, Tennis – 8, Triathlon – 4, Volleyball – 24, Weightlifting – 12 and Wrestling with 14 .
Meanwhile, another batch of Team Nigeria athletes will depart for Ghana today (Tuesday) with federation like volleyball, wrestling , football and several others on the list. The first batch of athletes left Nigeria on Friday .
Lekan Olaseinde
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