Tunde Popoola, the Secretary General of Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), is of the belief that Team Nigeria will win medals at the Rio 2016 Olympics and erase the sad memory of London 2012 where the country’s athletes failed to mount the podium.
Speaking in Lagos early this week, Popoola said NOC will do everything possible to avoid a repeat of London 2012 insisting that the nation's sports officials have learnt their lesson from the London flop.
He stated that not winning a single medal at the last Olympic outing remains the saddest moment for him and for the NOC, even as he assured that it will be a different ball game in Rio come next year.
“I m confident our contingent will win many gold medals in Rio, that is why we have resolved to do things differently. We have learnt our lessons from what happened in London. We will do something in the area of preparation ahead of the games," Popoola said.
The NOC scribe urged corporate bodies to come forward and partner the NOC as that is the only way to guarantee a good outing. He was full of praise for leading transport outfit Chisco who alongside the NOC unveiled a raffle ticket that would see 10 Nigerian sports fans win an all expenses paid trip to watch the world’s biggest sports fiesta.
“I'm happy Chisco has kick started a partnership package with us eight months to the games. I hope other corporate bodies will emulate them because we need all the support to do well in Rio,” Popoola stated.