2014 World Junior silver medallist Divine Oduduru is warming up to become the first Nigerian to clinch World and Olympic titles in this era, The Nation report.
The four-time NCAA champion told AthleticHeat online that he was aiming to make a different with his performance to inspire more Nigerians to aim for the diadems at global level.
“I am not giving up on my dream of becoming world and Olympic title holders because my aim is become an athlete with a different who will take the baton from Blessing Okagbare whom I still considered my role model,” he declared.
“I look up to her as my mentor, sister and role model. Her records are there for us to learn from and I hope to replicate what she has done as the first Nigerian male athlete.”
Oduduru said he would most likely concentrate on 100m, 200m and men’s relay events at World events at the Tokyo Olympic Games: “Now that I am a professional athlete, I am not going to be running all races but planned all my schedules.
“My mentality has also changed compared to when I was running in American collegiate competitions. I am going to continue working hard and I look forward to the Olympic Games.
“Nigeria has the athletes that can compete well in the men’s relay event but the issue has been that we have never had the quality tie to train together as a team.
“Particularly in the area of baton exchange which has been a major challenge for the team. I think if we have enough time to train together, we can compete favourably at global level,” Oduduru enthused.
He urged those in charge of the sport to give quality attention to athletes’ welfare, adding Nigeria have the talents to compete against the rest of the world.
“I must tell you that Nigeria is blessed with talent but the major concern has been the welfare issue which has been a major reoccurrence even when we were in camp in Sagamu in those days. Also companies must also support the sport because in America that is what is working,” he said.
