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NIGERIA’S delegation of 31-man team to this year’s Special Olympics World Winter Games scheduled to take place between March 14 and 25 in Austria is to depart Lagos on Monday, March 13. At a special send-forth organised in honour of the team in Lagos, Victor Gbolade Osibodu, chairman of the board of directors of Special Olympics Nigeria, thanked everyone who contributed to make the trip possible for the special athletes.

While charging the athletes to give their best, Osibodu said, “There is always ability in a world of disability. We are grateful to the Lagos State Government for permitting us to train at Teslim Balogun Stadium.”

He also thanked Edo State Government for sponsoring an athlete and is also committed to developing an environment that allows more athletes from the state to train and participate in Special Olympic activities. He extended appreciation to other corporate sponsors for all their support.

Naomi Saliu-Lawal, national director, Special Olympics Nigeria, who is also head of the country’s delegation to the Games, commended the athletes for their remarkable discipline and display of tremendous skills during the past three months training for the Games.

She said that she was surprised at how fast the athletes were pick up fast in two indoor sports (Floor ball and Floor Hockey) they were introduced to.

Floor ball and Floor Hockey are new to the Nigeria programme and so Special Olympics partners in South Africa were invited to train the coaches and athletes in readiness for the games. “It was an awesome sight to see how fast these athletes have learnt these new sports and to think that these are sports new to Nigeria,” the director noted.

She also extended appreciation of Special Olympic Nigeria to sponsors who have made sure that the athletes have this opportunity to represent the country. “We appreciate our sponsors like Caverton Offshore Support Group (COSG), Biswal Limited, Union Bank PLC, Orintory Energy Limited, IrokoTv and several individuals who have chosen to be anonymous. Thank you very much from all of us at Special Olympics Nigeria.”

Present at the event to lend support and encourage the athletes were popular actresses Kate Henshaw and Linda Ejiofor. They commended the athletes and parents for their effort as well as pledge support for Special Olympics Nigeria and its activities. Special Olympics Nigeria (SO Nigeria) is an affiliate of Special Olympics international and our goal is to provide children and adults with intellectual disabilities year-round sports training and opportunities for athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports. SO Nigeria caters for 22,000 athletes in four of the six geo-political zones in Nigeria.

—  Mar 20, 2017 @ 01:00 GMT

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