Rio Olympics: 61 athletes meet standards Requirements

At least 61 athletes have met the International Association of Athletics Federations’ entry standards for the 2016 Rio Olympics, the Athletic Federation of Nigeria has said.

The Technical Director of the federation, Yussuf Alli, told newsmen on Friday that most of the athletes had made the cut before the IAAF reduced the standards for 16 events including women’s 400m, men and women 800m and 1,500m.

Alli had on Wednesday said the AFN had decided to reduce its entry standards for the Rio Olympics by adopting those set by the IAAF.

“So far, we have about 61 athletes who have qualified for the Olympics. With the old and the new standards, it’s still about the same number of athletes that made it. So the reduction didn’t make any difference,” the national record holder in long jump said.

“I don’t know if more athletes would make it. Some will train hard and some will not train. It is when we do the national trials, or let me just say by July 11, 2016, when the gate will close for the Olympic Games, that we will know how many athletes that will actually go to the Olympics. For now, I can’t say how many athletes will go for the Games.”

Alli added that some athletes were already training in camp in Port Harcourt while others were training at other locations with their coaches.

“In track and field, we don’t have one camp. Athletes train with their various coaches; some are in camp. It is only after the trials that one can precisely say who and who will make the team that will represent Nigeria,” Alli said.

Another AFN official, Falilat Ogunkoya, said though these athletes have met the standards, they still need to prove themselves at the national trials hence the need to train hard and avoid injuries.

“Athletes are preparing. They have been called to camp and some are there. Others, who are not in camp, are training with their coaches. Some are in the US training also,” the Olympic silver medallist said.

“We can’t determine those who would be going to the Olympics now. We have to wait because along the line some might get injured and some, who you thought would make it, may end up not making it. It is after the trial that we will make the final decision on the team.”

Ogunkoya, who won silver and bronze at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, added that Nigerian athletes would do better at the Rio Olympics than they did at the last IAAF World Athletics Championships, which was held in China.