By Olanrewaju Akojede
Lagos – Nigeria’s first athlete to represent Nigeria in Taekwondo event at the Olympics, Emmanuel Peters, on Tuesday challenged the younger Taekwondoists to break his Barcelona ’92 record by winning gold medal.
Peters gave the challenge in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the just-concluded Lagos International Taekwondo Classics in Lagos.
NAN reports that Peters became the first Nigerian Taekwondo medalist by winning silver at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
He said that his record had stood too long for the athletes to step in and set a new record, noting that the current taekwondoists could achieve the feat.
“It is high time someone steps up to smash my Barcelona ’92 record of a silver medal. Someone out there from Nigeria should take the challenge to win gold medal.
“We need to convince the world about our knowledge of the sport by winning gold medal. We should do something higher than the previous record which has stood for long.
“We have great taekwondoists now and we need to take up the challenge which I think is achievable with our current ratings.
“We have good athletes but they need the right mentality.
“We are coming up in a way but like Oliver Twist, we want more from the athletes. There are rooms for improvement,’’ Peters said.
He said that the taekwondo needed a lot of support from government and private organisations, adding that “if the sport gets the right support, the athletes could do well internationally.
“Taekwondo needs a lot of support from the government. Before now, we have been having support from the government but currently there is zero support.
“If government can support and also with corporate support, the sport will be better than what we have now. We can only succeed with all hands on deck.
“I am not happy with the present indifferent attitude to taekwondo, because it is a sport in which we have comparative advantage, so we need to make use of the opportunity.
“For my own bit, I am also sponsoring a grassroots development programme called `Agoma Open’ which gives the younger athletes a platform to showcase their talents,’’ he said.
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