Only very few Nigerian athletes have qualified for the World Championships which begins in Beijing on August 22 and one of them is women’s 400m hurdler Amaka Ogoegbunam. In this interview with DGossip247, the athlete sheds light on her short-term dreams, difficulties of preparing for the World Championships as well as the prospect of competing against a former compatriot and teammate who now runs for Bahrain. Excerpts…
It has been difficult for Nigerian athletes to make a mark at the World Championships…
For me, I have already qualified for the championships, but for the others I believe they are also working hard to reach the mark required of them to qualify.
Now that you have qualified, what is your target?
I am trying to lower my time to maybe 54secs or below and hopefully even do better than that. My coming to Nigeria was to see how I could improve on my time. I have been in Europe for some time now, working hard and trying to achieve a lot in my training. It has not been easy in Europe because of the weather; sometimes it is cold and sometime not so cold. It could also be windy and this also poses some difficulty but I have had to maintain my training in spite of this.
How do you compare your experience in Europe with now that you are in Nigeria, specifically Warri; where the Relay and Grand Prix took place last weekend?
The weather in Europe where I have been for some months has been windy, cold, and sometime extremely cold, but in Nigeria we sometimes have rain and at other times it is sunny all day. Seriously, I don’t really care about the rain, the wind or the sun because training under different weather conditions will surely help me as an athlete, and whatever I am experiencing now will make me stronger.
In June you competed at the IAAF Diamond League in Rome; what was the experience like for you?
Fantastic! It was a big experience for me; that was my first time of competing at the Diamond League. I was just so happy and wasn’t even too bothered about my position at the end of the day because it was a wonderful time competing in one of the biggest IAAF meets. I was running from lane nine which is one of the most difficult lanes for a race, but I was not worried. All what was uppermost in my mind was to run my season’s best, and despite all the obstacles I was able to achieve my goal. I ran my season best of 56.72secs. I was happy achieving my goal.
A Nigerian, Oluwakemi Adekoya, is currently making waves running for Bahrain in the same discipline, and you are likely to come up against her at the World Championships. How will it be competing against a friend and former teammate?
I am so happy for her because she had gone through a lot of difficulties before now, but for her to achieve what she has achieved, I give her credit for that. I am happy for her success but I am doing my own thing and working to become the best too. I keep training hard doing what I need to do to achieve my expected goal.
What should we expect from Nigerian athletes at the Worlds?
I believe we are going there to make Nigeria proud. Every Nigerian athlete is really striving to be at their best, to be in the shape they need to achieve success in Beijing. We want to go there and not disgrace our country. Anybody that picks a medal, to God be the glory. There are so many athletes targeting medals in Beijing and Nigerian athletes are no exception. As has been frequently pointed out, the championship will be for the top stars and competing against them brings out the best in you too. So I want Nigerians to expect the best from the athletes going to China.
What can you say about your own personal preparation and your expectations?
I am preparing very hard to be in the final, and from there anything can happen. We are talking about 400m hurdles where anything can happen; nobody is praying for somebody to fall or get injured, but if you can get to the final, everyone will have equal chance of winning a medal. I want to go out there and do the best I can where people can really applaud my performance. I can also get a personal best in the process and that will be fantastic for my career.
What can you say about the Athletic Federation of Nigeria’s preparation of athletes for the championships?
The president of the AFN, Solomon Ogba, is really doing a lot; he is doing his best because it is not easy to lead athletes in a country like Nigeria. He has been trying all he could to take the athletes to the top and also achieve success for the country. I believe he needs the support of everyone to achieve success for Nigerian athletes and the country as a whole.
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