President, Nigeria Taekwondo Federation, Abdullahi Saidu-Baba, has stated that Nigeria requires new talents in taekwondo and other sports to perform better in global competitions.
Taekwondo obtained one gold, one silver, and four bronze medals at the recently finished 13th African Games in Accra, Ghana. While he recognized that their achievement at the Games involved a lot of hard work, Saidu-Baba mentioned that it fell short of their goal of three gold medals.
As a result, he recommended the retirement of all old athletes to make way for new talent in preparation for the 14th African Games in Cairo, Egypt.
Saidu-Baba thinks that the efforts should start towards this year’s Olympic Games in Paris, France, and the National Sports Festival in November.
“I believe that we need to go back home and identify areas that need improvement. We need to retire aging athletes and start nurturing young talents,” he stated.
“We need to focus on these aspects and begin training the young athletes across the country for the upcoming Games in Egypt. Additionally, we must pay close attention to their preparation. They need more exposure and should participate in more local, regional, and international competitions.”
Saidu-Baba also stated that preparations for tournaments should commence earlier, with athletes competing in their respective categories.
“Trust me, by the time our athletes compete in their designated events, we will be prepared for the next African Games.
“Our main issue, however, is that we start late. Why do we commence preparations late – two months, three months? Our National Sports Festival is approaching in November. We should incorporate these events into the sports festival. By doing so, we are mentally preparing the athletes for the upcoming events,” he mentioned.