Team Nigeria’s Olympics-bound wrestlers set to camp in Germany

The Nigeria Wrestling Federation (NWF) has announced that the overseas camping stage for its wrestlers’ preparations for the 2024 Paris Olympics will commence on Monday in Saarbrucken, Germany. This follows the ongoing local camping in Yenagoa, which will end on Sunday.

According to NWF President Daniel Igali, he revealed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan, saying the overseas’s training would follow the ongoing local camping in Yenagoa, which will end on Sunday.

“Preparations for the Olympics are in top gear. We’ve been in camp in Yenagoa for over two weeks, and training so far is going well. 

“We have five Olympics-bound athletes and three training partners each in camp.

“The lone male among the Olympics-bound wrestlers is not in camp yet, and that is Ashton Mutuwa, who is based in the U.S.

“Already, Adekuoroye, who is also based in the U.S., has now joined us. Mutuwa will join the overseas camp because of his peculiar situation.

“He has very good training partners in the US, and we want that to continue because we’re quite happy with his training situation there, which we are monitoring very closely,” he said.

Igali assured that Mutuwa was being monitored closely and so far the NWF was impressed with what he was doing.

He also said Adekuoroye has done a lot of training in terms of pace and strengthening.

“We believe that she has good training partners here in Nigeria that will really get her fortified for the Olympics, because we have a lot of hope for her at this Olympics,” the NWF President said.

He further states that the five Olympics-bound athletes and their three training partners have been in camp in Yenagoa for over two weeks, with training going well.

The team includes Tokyo 2020 silver medalists Blessing Oborududu, Odunayo Adekuoroye, Hannah Reuben, Christiana Ogunsanya, Esther Kolawole, and Ashton Mutuwa.

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The wrestlers are expected to camp in Germany for three weeks, with the possibility of extending their stay until the end of July. The team’s head coach, Purity Akuh, said the athletes and their training partners were in their preparation phase and working so hard.

He expressed his expectation that every qualified athlete would win medals at the Paris Games.

The six wrestlers will represent Nigeria in the 57 kg, 62 kg, 68 kg, 76 kg, and 125 kg categories. With a strong team and intense training, Nigeria hopes to make a significant impact at the Olympics.