Commonwealth gold medallist, Yussuf Alli, has lamented the poor performances of Nigerian male athletes in recent competitions.
According to the long jump coach, the showing of the national athletics male teams has become a cause for major concern in the athletics circles.
Alli said it might become necessary to return to the grass roots to groom a new set of male athletes who can compete on the world stage.
The ex-international told our correspondent, “Our male athletes are not doing as well as the women. At the moment we have confidence that we can get some medals in the World Athletics Championships in Beijing, and the 2016 Olympics. But much of our hope is on the women — on people like Blessing Okagbare. At the moment we can’t really bank on the men.”
Alli says he does not understand why the male athletes are not winning medals for the country. He added, “Maybe we should return to the grass roots to produce new set of male athletes. For now our male athletes are not measuring up at all; they are not doing as well as their female counterparts.”
The national long jump record holder praised the quartet of Blessing Okagbare, Regina George, Dominique Duncan and Christy Udoh for winning gold in women’s 4x200m at the IAAF/BTC World Relays in Bahamas last week.
The majority of Nigeria’s 12 gold medals at the 2015 Africa Junior Athletics Championship were won by female athletes and the scenario was similar at the Africa Youth Athletics Championships.
The women also dominated at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where Nigeria won 11 gold, 11 silver, and 14 bronze.
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