Daily Independent Online.
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Wednesday, June 30, 2004.
Nku declares readiness for Olympic trials
By Uzor Odigbo
Correspondent, Lagos
Nigeria’s
female sprint prodigy, Mercy Nku has declared herself fit for the forthcoming Olympic trials slated for Abuja next
week.
Nku who spoke to
Daily Independent after registering for the trials on the web from her base in
Italy stressed that she has no problem with her health.
The athlete
declared that the trial would be a
case of survival of the fittest
where past performance will not count.
“I’m
okay waiting for the d-day. I hope to do well by finishing in the first
position,”
The talented
sprinter noted that Nigeria’s qualification in
the female 4x100m relay should be
paramount and would be achieved if all hands are on deck. She stated that
winning at the Olympics was every athlete’s dream as she doused the
rumour that her recent face-off with AFN and Sports Ministry official will have
a long lasting effect on her performance both at the trials and the Olympics
proper.
“I
won’t be deterred by anything. I have forgiven everyone, it is now in the past. Marching forward brings
progress, therefore, I want to progress in all I do,”
Meanwhile, the
performance of athletes in training camp in Germany has continued to drop as trials held last weekend was
nothing to rely on. Camp sources revealed to Daily Independent that some of the
elite female athletes who participated in the trials returned 11.8 secs while
others achieved 12.01 seconds in the 100m trials.
It was also
revealed that some of the coaches who made it to Germany were made spectators
as the German technical officials
attached to the team took charge.
The athletic team
will arrive the country on July 5
with the German technical
officials.
