A 13-man team of athletes and officials of the Nigeria Deaf Sports Federation departed Abuja on Friday for the 24th Summer Deaflympics holding from Sunday to May 15 in Brazil.

Lukeman Agbabiaka, the federation’s Secretary-General, said in an interview that the team comprised eight athletes and five officials.

“The team left via an Ethiopian airlines flight from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja heading for Caxias do Sul in Brazil,” he said.

Mr Agbabiaka said the athletes who were enthusiastic and ready to make the nation proud would be competing in athletics and table tennis events at the 15-day Games.

He said the federal government approved the trip and that the federation was grateful to the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development for its support.

The federation secretary-general said he was confident their technical crew did the needful during the team’s preparations in camp for the competition.

“In view of this, the athletes have left for the competition in high spirits and will be able to sweep the medals in both events,” he said.

Mr Agbabiaka said Nigeria has a good history in the competition, having made its debut at the 21st Summer Deaflympics in Taipei Taiwan in 2009, where the athletes won two silver medals.

“Also, at the 22nd edition in Sofia, Bulgaria we won a bronze medal,” he added.

The Deaflympics is a World Games for the Deaf, similar to the Olympics and Paralympics for the able-bodied and para-athletes respectively.

(NAN)