Nigeria: Special Olympics Team Off to Athens Games

Solomon Nwoke

21 June 2011

A 61 member Nigerian contingent to this year’s Special Olympics World Summer Games in Athens Greece departed the shores of the country Sunday aboard a KLM Airline flight.

The contingent comprising 43 athletes, 18 coaches and two officials including the head of delegation

and assistant head of delegation would compete in six events namely; aquatics, athletics, badminton, basketball, table tennis and soccer.

At the special send forth media parley with the Team Nigeria by the Special Olympics Nigeria (SO Nigeria) at Terra Kuture before their departure, the organisation was glad to have raised N31 million of the N35 million it needed for the Games .

Chairman of the Board of Director SONigeria, Victor Gbolade Osibodu said, “for us as an organisation and our athltetes, arriving at this point has not been without challenges. These challenges sometimes threatened our preparation to this year’s Games, but with determination and perseverance, we overcame the challenges and the rest as they say, is history”

Osibodu also informed that the athletes who were camped at the Gateway Stadium, Sagamu. had done all that was necessary to ensure that they have a successful outing at the Games.

“I believe that our athletes will do their best at the competition. The most important thing is to be competitive and bask in the camaraderie,” he said.

The 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games holds from June 25 to July 4 in Athens.

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