Olympics taekwondo star, Chika Chukwumerije, has commended the Minister of Sports and Chairman of the National Sports Commission,, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, for the NSC’s endorsement and funding of his Foundation
in participating in international taekwondo tournaments held in Austria and Switzerland recently.
Chukwumerije said in line with the Minister’s vow to support and even sponsor sports that have a feasible and bright future, the NSC funded his Team to the international tournament, which is incidentally is a scoring event that will eventually help Nigeria to continue to rank as a top country in the game.
Chukwumerije said: “We went for an international training camp that was organised by my Foundation – Chika Chukwumerije Foundation. It was for 22 days and the purpose was to expose our athletes and for them to gain more experience.
“Five athletes, including myself, went for two different international tournaments namely the Austrian Open and Swiss Open taekwondo
competition. These two tournaments are rated by the parent body, The World Taekwondo Federation.”
Chika, as he is fondly called, disclosed that the idea behind this was to let the young and home-based athletes be exposed to the international
arena and experience how it is being done there.
The Olympian, who led the delegation to the tournaments, disclosed that
the five Nigerian taekwondo fighters competed against five German Clubs and also had training sessions.
The Nigerian contingent however had impressive results at the two tournaments, winning a gold medal, won by Chukwumerije himself; a silver,
won by his younger brother, Uche Chukwumerije; and a bronze medal.
The Minister praised the Chukwumerije-led team for
winning medals and putting Nigeria positively in the world map in the game.
Abdullahi said: “I never hesitated to support this team when they came to me because I have always regarded Chika as a patriotic, dedicated and committed
athlete. I am happy that his team came back with these medals to show that Nigeria has bright prospect in the game. It shows that the future
is very bright for the game in Nigeria.
Chukwumerije lauds Minister on taekwondo feats
