By Mike Oboh
The forth coming National Sports Festival billed to be hosted by Edo State government may not witness any new records as athletes preparing for the game says the COVID 19 pandemic is having a telling effect on their preparations.
Most of the athletes spoken with in Abuja noted that since the lockdown has affected their training, it will be miraculous for any of them to break new records when the competition commences.
The festival which was shifted earlier this year because of the pandemic . has resulted to the athletes not been in tense preparations for the game as most of them are now left with private practice which was not enough to break even.
According to Abdul Maikano, the festival would have brought the best out of the athletes if they have another way of preparing for the games which is the country’s Olympics.
Maikano said it was quite dishearten that after a great preparation for the game, the pandemic came in to rob them of the expected glory of breaking new records in the festival.
“We were intense training for the festival, myself and many others of my colleague were very optimistic of breaking records in Edo state but with the situation we are now I don’t know how this can become a reality,” he said.
He said what they have resolved to do was to keep their acts together and push for a possibility towards it, saying “There is still the possibility if the training programmes of the various sports can be open by the government.”
He said they were looking ahead with optimism that the government will soon open the sports facilities for them to train for the games .
