Former Nigeria’s top 100mh champion Gloria Alozie says she is committed in raising more hurdlers in Nigeria as the limited number of athletes for the event is unacceptable.
Alozie lamented the poor performance of male and female hurdlers in the country, insisting that until efforts are made to train and nurture more hurdlers, Nigeria would continue to lag behind.
She disclosed this at the venue of the 1st MoC 3-day grand prix which ended in Lagos on Thursday.
Alozie who holds the Commonwealth and Africa 100mh hurdles record (12;44secs) regreted that senior athletes that major in hurdles are not showing encouraging signs of improvement in meet she had witnessed so far.
“I’m surprised to see some senior hurdlers who had been running the event for years still running the same time which can’t take them anywhere. I’m also elated that the upcoming ones are taking the challenge and are doing well, but my regret is really on the senior athletes that would aspire to represent Nigeria creditably in competitions abroad.”
The former sprinter said her involvement with the Making of Champions (MoC) a Sports company with strong bias in athletics is to address the ugly situation having started grooming young hurdlers in the club.
She expressed concern in the caliber of athletes competing locally, but devoid of the corresponding high performance after many years of being in the sport.
Alozie however reasoned that perhaps the economic situations in the country may have been responsible for the poor performance of senior athletes across board.
Alozie was not alone in this observation, one time sprint queen Emem Edem Ikhabomen also reechoed Alozie’s concern on the sliding performance over time among senior athletes.
She however blamed it on the endless invitation of athletes in diaspora under different guides by former AFN administrators, while local content were neglected.
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