On August 5, the 2016 Olympics kick off and Nigeria is one of the participating nations but so far, plans have been poor. Funds for the athletes are yet to be released and many of the sportsmen and women are feeling exasperated at the lack of government support which has affected their preparations.
Apparently, athletes who allegedly took to the social media to raise funds for Rio 2016 include Regina George, Seye Ogunlewe Jnr and Nwanneka Okwelogu. American-born sprinter, George who represented Nigeria at the London 2012 Olympics, through her twitter handle write a piece saying Help get me to the Olympics.
She said: "To all my family friends and fans, thanks for being here for me through the good times and bad times. This year it’s been hard financially for me but it wouldn’t have been possible without your support."
Ms George, a 2012 African Championships silver medallist allegedly stated that her action was as a result of the orders that the athletes would pay to respect Nigeria at Rio 2016 because of paucity of funds. At the time of filing this report, Ms George had allegedly raised about ($1,895 from donors.
“I have been told that we will have to pay our own way to the Olympics this year. Sadly this is such short notice for me to come up with the money.
“I been through a lot of obstacles this year and through it all, I made my second Olympic team. I don’t want to stop now after I earned a spot to represent my country in the Olympics," Ms George added.
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