World Championship Experience Will Help Nigeria Qualify for 2024 Olympics, Says Massari

Olawale Ajimotokan and Joel Ita in Abuja

The President of Cycling Federation of Nigeria (CFN), Giandomenico Massari, has expressed hope that the points which Nigerian cyclists gathered at the just concluded 2021 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in France will aid their quest in qualifying for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

He stated this while speaking to newsmen in Abuja on Team Nigeria’s outing at the world showpiece in France.

Massari said Nigeria’s cyclists despite making their debut at the world track championships will gain from the exposure.

“We have been able to gather points that would help our quest to qualify for the 2024 Olympics Games in France, the athletes themselves have gained a lot of experience and have competed with former and present world champions.

”Getting four of our athletes to qualify for the World Championships alone is a big achievement, because we are rated the best in Africa.

“Countries like Egypt, South Africa presented one and two athletes respectively, also our jersey was rated the best in the world championship”, he said. He called on corporate organisations and private individuals to support the growth of cycling at the grassroots in the country while commending the athletes and the cycling stakeholders for the great contribution so far.

On her part, Ese Ukpeseraye Lovina, Nigeria’s captain to the Championship said that with more training and equipment, the team would deliver medals at the next world championships.

“We competed among the best athletes in the world and this has further given us a lot of experience, so we just need to train hard and to attend more competitions so that we can be at par with our counterparts outside the country,” she concluded.