Delta 2022 … Festival of upsets, new records, tears

Major sporting events across the globe provide athletes the opportunity to launch themselves into the reckoning. From the All-Africa Games to the Commonwealth Games, World Championships, and the Olympics Games, most athletes go the extra mile to prepare themselves with the hope of not only winning medals for their countries but also booking their slots in history books as record breakers. 

Among them are Akinbode, who got a gold medal in shot put T37-37; Latifat Tijani (powerlifting 45kg category), Isau Ogunkunle (table tennis 4-5class), Kafayat Olaitan (table tennis class 9), Dauda Ibrahim (59kg class), Yakub Adesokan (49kg class para powerlifting), and Hakeem Rasaq (F40 para athletics).    The Head of Public Relations/Information of Ogun Sports Council, Bola Giwa, told The Guardian that para-athletes are examples of irrepressible spirit, gender equality and sports excellence. “The real challenge associated with disability in Nigeria is not a physical disability in itself, but the retinue of unfavorable societal response or attitude towards disability,” she said.    She continues: “We should stop the stigmatisation of people with special needs in all spheres of life if we must be counted among developed and developing nations, where physical disability does not impair the ability of people. We have to help them to rise to the top in any chosen career, especially as sportsmen and women.” For Team Oyo, the Asaba outing was a new landmark as the state’s athletes broke new ground by producing the first-ever gold medalists in four sports in which Oyo State had never done well in past.

First, it was Adekunle Adeyemo, who broke the jinx in golf, as he became the first-ever Oyo State golfer to strike gold in that event.