COMMON Wealth Games: 94 athletes to represent Nigeria

A total of 94 athletes will represent Nigeria at the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. This was revealed in a statement signed by the Director, Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Manga Mohammed, on Wednesday.

“The Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development will present 94 athletes and 21 accompanying technical personnel that have qualified through several qualifications competitions overseas to carry the banner of our nation to the Games,” the statement read.

The athletes will be accompanied by 21 technical personnel to the Games, which hold from July 28 to August 8, according to the statement made available to our correspondent.

Nigeria will be participating in nine sports namely athletics, wrestling, judo, para-athletics, boxing, table tennis, para-table tennis, para-powerlifting and weightlifting, with athletics producing the largest contingent – 33, followed by wrestling, which has 11.

Both the boxing and weightlifting team are made up of nine athletes each, while para-powerlifting and table tennis comprise eight players respectively.

The para-table tennis team is made up of seven players, while para-athletics and judo have five and four athletes in their respective teams.

The athletes currently in training are camped in three cities – Lagos, Abuja and Yenagoa.

Athletes representing the country in weightlifting, athletics, boxing and para-athletics are camped in Abuja, while para-table tennis, table tennis, judo and para-powerlifting athletes are in Lagos.

It was also learnt that Team Nigeria will depart for Birmingham July 22.