Poland 2016: “Starved” Nigerian athletes finish with no medal

Relay NewsroomNG — *Nigeria’s contingent got to the championship after the first set medals had been handed out.*

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) world U-20 Championships has ended in Poland.

The Nigerian contingent of 13 athletes won no medal.

That shouldn’t come as a surprise to Nigerians after news of the horrible treatment meted on the athletes by the country’s sporting authorities trickled out over the weekend.

“Nobody cares about us,” the men’s relay team told newsmen after losing out of their event.

They also narrated how they spent about three days journeying from Nigeria to Poland.

According to travelmath, a flight from Lagos, Nigeria to Warsaw, Poland should take about 7 hours, 7 minutes.

Somehow, it took the Nigerian athletes over 48 hours to make that trip and they arrived the venue after the first set of medals had been handed out.

Where are the Nigerians? 1st set of medals have been awarded, still no sign of team🇳🇬. R they jogging in from Abuja😂 pic.twitter.com/BhgMbhgRQt

— AthleticsAfrica (@athleticsafrica) July 19, 2016

Following the forgettable handling of the athletes, Oluwatobiloba Amusan was Nigeria’s major hope of securing a medal.

And that’s largely because she didn’t travel with the rest of the contingent. She flew to Poland from the United States where she is currently studying.

Amusan made it to the 110m Hurdles finals. She however finished the race in fifth position with a time of 12.95 secs.

Amusan NewsroomNG — ONLY HOPE: Amusan was Nigeria’s best finisher at the Championship. She finished 5th in the final of the 110 metres hurdles. The only other Nigerian that made it to a final in the championships finished 8th.

Elvira Herman of Belarus returned a time of 12.85 secs to clinch the first position, while Rushelle Burton of Jamaica came second with a time of 12.87 secs. The U.S. Tia Jones returned a time of 12.89 secs to win the third position and her compatriot, Alexis Duncan, came fourth with a time of 12.93 secs.

The U.S. ranked first on the medals table with 10 gold, six silver and four bronze medals, Kenya had five gold, two silver and two bronze medals to clinch the second place. Ethiopia came third with four gold, two silver and four bronze medals.

Nigeria placed 52nd on the medals table with five points after clinching the fifth position in the women 110m Hurdles and eight position in the 200m.

There are fears Nigeria’s Team to the Rio Olympics may be affected with same shoddy handing by authorities after some foreign based athletes took to social media to solicit funds for traveling to the competition..