Chris Onwuzurike, the father and coach of track star, Udodi Onwuzurike, has said Nigeria will soon be competing favourably with powerhouse, USA and Jamaica in athletics.
Making this submission in Benin, the venue of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games National Trials, Onwuzurike said the performance of the athletes of Nigeria in recent years has shown that the future is bright.
“The future holds a lot of significance with what is going on, the excitement that is being created as we can see at the trials, more people, children, kids are coming back home to participate in the event,” he said.
“If I was to judge what the future would hold in the next three-five years, if these energies are well harnessed, I see Nigeria competing well with the US and Jamaica in this athletics.
“We have a lot of athletes coming up and the key is to really harness it well. The challenge is AFN and the country to make sure we harness this, a lot of our children locally and also the foreign born are beginning to identify with what we do here and they are coming.”
Speaking further, he said investing in his children has been part of his life especially those in sports as that has been his passion hence the decision to coach his son, Udodi and also travel with him for major competitions.
He added that with Nigerians now posting good results in major meets across the world, there is likelihood of the country winning the coming African Championship in Cameroon later this month.
On the performance of his son this year, Chris Onwuzurike said it has been tough for him this year due to injury but he is coming back to his best gradually.
He added: “He is very ready and you have to understand the challenges that he is going through this year, coming out of college, changing coaches and he was also injured.
“He just started running about a month ago so he is trying to catch up. Most athletes don’t really get to the level that he is with all the challenges that he’s been confronting, changing coaches, coming out of almost 11 months injury. I’m glad to see him running and we look forward to seeing him at the podium for the 200m race
