Thirty-five cyclists to represent Nigeria at African cycling championship
The Cycling Federation of Nigeria (CFN) has picked 35 cyclists to represent Nigeria at the second Africa Cup Track Cycling Championship holding from Thursday to July 17 in Abuja.
Bashir Mohammed, CFN’s Technical Director, said the cyclists were picked from the elite and junior teams and are camping in Abuja.
“They have been undergoing intensive training for over four months at the velodrome of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium,” he said, adding that the cyclists would participate in several events at the championship.
The Nigerian team will compete in events in both the junior and elite levels in the male and female categories. The 35 cyclists will be divided into 17 for the juniors and 18 for the elite.
The 17 cyclists in the juniors category comprise 11 males and six females, while the 18 cyclists in the elite category have ten males and eight females.
“We are set for the championship, and it is good that it is taking place in our country where we will compete in all the 11 medal events,” the federation official said, assuring that the 35 cyclists are prepared for the competition.
Mohammed also disclosed that cyclists from 20 countries, including Nigeria, were expected to participate in the competition.
He listed the countries to be South Africa, Zimbabwe, Egypt, Morocco, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Republic of Benin, Guinea, Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Uganda, Algeria, Togo, Rwanda and Tunisia.
The federation conducted a national trial from June 8 to June 12, where 139 cyclists participated, and 52 cyclists were picked for closed camping.
Nigeria hosted the championship’s first edition in July 2019 in Abuja, and nine countries participated.
With a contingent of 21 cyclists of both female and male categories, Nigeria won a total of 51 medals comprising 21 gold, 18 silver and 12 bronzes to emerge champions.
Egypt finished second with eight gold, seven silver and seven bronze medals, while Morocco was third with four gold and three silver medals.
Burkina finished fourth with three silvers and five bronze, Burundi fifth with two bronzes, and Ghana sixth with a bronze medal.
(NAN)
We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.
More from Peoples Gazette
Politics
Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku
“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”
NationWide
Nigeria positioned to power clean energy future of world: Tinubu
Mr Tinubu expressed his firm commitment to improve the developmental partnership between the European Union and Nigeria.
Africa
Benin, Liberia, Sierra Leone roll out malaria vaccines
With the announcement on World Malaria Day, the number of African countries incorporating the vaccines into their childhood immunisation programmes increased to eight.
NationWide
Group urges FG to decongest custodial centres after Suleja jailbreak
”We also call on the public to pay more attention to issues concerning corrections in Nigeria.”
Politics
PDP unveils 200-member campaign council for Edo 2024 guber election
The advisory council has seven eminent members of the state.
Africa
ECOWAS moves to tackle drug abuse in Sierra Leone, other countries
ECOWAS said the workshop was also to support efforts to tackle drug abuse and provide resources and strategies for member states, particularly Sierra Leone.
Lagos
FG to resume resurfacing of Third Mainland Bridge: Official
She said that the exact dates for the renewed construction would be announced soon.
