As the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) continues its preparations for the upcoming summer Olympic Games in Paris, Nigerian athletes have secured several medals at the ongoing African Athletics Championships in Douala, Cameroon.

The Technical Director of the AFN, Samuel Onikeku, expressed satisfaction with the team’s performance, highlighting the importance of competing against some of the continent’s best athletes.

Onikeku emphasized that the competition is a crucial step in assessing the team’s readiness for the Olympics.

He reported that Nigeria has already won three gold, two silver, and several bronze medals, which is an encouraging sign of the team’s progress.

“We are happy with the progress of our team. We’ve won three gold, two silver, and some bronze medals,” said the AFN Director.

The main focus for attending the African Championship is to get some level of stiff opposition to our teams to be able to gauge our preparations.”

He added that the AFN had set up key performance indicators at the beginning of the year to track the team’s progress and identify factors that could limit their performance and chances of achieving podium finishes.

The AFN is working diligently to address these limiting factors and has observed consistent progress.

“At the beginning of the year, we set up our key performance indicators, but after the African Games, before going to the Bahamas, I was able, as the technical director, to develop key performance limiting factors.

“What are the factors that will limit performance? What are the factors that will limit us achieving podium finishes? And these limiting factors, we start dealing with them, and we are seeing progress all the time,” Onikeku explained.

The AFN remains optimistic about the team’s potential and is focused on ensuring that the athletes are well-prepared to compete at the highest level in the upcoming Games in Paris.