As Nigeria relay teams step out for the 2014 season today at the Mt SAC relays Championships in Walnut, California USA, Athletics Federation of Nigeria president, Solomon Ogba is hopeful that Nigerian sprinters will re-enact the relay glory days.

Since the Barcelona 1992 Olympics where Nigeria won two medals, a silver and a bronze by the men and women 4x100m quartets respectively, the country has always eked out medals at the Olympics, World Championships and the Commonwealth Games, until recently when those efforts dried up.

It is against this background that the AFN had listed its teams into several relays events to spruce up the athletes for the season’s events and beyond. Maurice Greene was even hired to motivate the athletes, starting from the meet today in Mt SAC.

“We have the athletes and I have confidence that they can do better than they are doing. This is because they were in the final of the Olympics, world championships and the world indoor.
“These are no little achievements. All they need is an extra push and that is what we are doing by getting the athletes into various relay meets. I am certain that we will re-establish our relays tradition at the world level.

Ogba noted that, the Mt SAC relays being the first major international championship for Team Nigeria this year, the country’s athletes will be able to judge themselves and propel their efforts for subsequent competitions in the current calendar.

“For Nigeria to participate at the Mt Sac Relays is not to go and win but to tune up the athletes. We are going to use the championship to watch and see the weakness our athletes have and work on them before the Pen Relays which will hold next week in Philadelphia,” Ogba said.