Executive chairman of the Edo State Sports Commission, Amadin Enabulele has said the state’s athletes were not under pressure to win the maiden edition of the Niger Delta Sports Festival, which ended in Uyo on Tuesday.
Team Edo finished third garnering 89 medals (23 Gold, 35 Silver and 31 Bronze) behind Bayelsa and Delta who finished first and second respectively.
Enabulele also commended Team Edo performance and noted that the performance has given the state hope of doing well at the National Sports Festival in Ogun State in May.
He said, “I commend Team Edo for their discipline, resilience, and the spirit of sportsmanship at the festival. This event has given Team Edo the opportunity to build friendships, promote unity, and showcase their talents.
“I am particularly happy that our athletes fought very well to the end. Before I joined them in Uyo, Rivers were third on the medal table. Within the last two days, our athletes, particularly in boxing, weightlifting and athletics showed resilience and gave us the gold medal to overtake Rivers on the last day.
“We came to the Niger Delta Games without putting our athletes under pressure to win. Instead, we gave our athletes the necessary training, good welfare and the enabling environment to thrive.
“We made them understand that it was about their future and career. So, the NDSF was a platform for our athletes to showcase their talents and assess their performance and readiness for the bigger sports festival.
“We look beyond winning medals; this event gave us an opportunity to build on what we have in preparation for the upcoming National Sports Festival in Ogun state.”
“This is like a rehearsal for us. So, we have seen what they are doing right now and it will help us in our preparation for the Ogun Games. For us, this Niger Delta Sports Festival is a prelude to what will happen at Ogun games.”
