NSSF Celebrates Contingent to ISF World School Games

NSSF Celebrates Contingent to ISF World School Games 
It was a moment of celebration for the 10-man contingent to the just concluded 19th International School Sport Federation (ISF) Gymnasiade 2022 tagged World School Games held in Normandy, France, as the Nigeria School Sport Federation (NSSF) celebrated the athletes for their performance among the thousands of students across the globe that featured at the sports fiesta. 
With 10 athletes competing in athletics events, Nigeria won one gold medal in 3000m to finish 21st on the medal table as thousands of athletes from 63 countries competed in 20 events. 
Six of the athletes made it to the final of their various events while Ronke Akanbi of Yewa College claimed the only gold medal for Nigeria in the girls’ 3000m and the NSSF described the feat as impressive. 
According to the President of NSSF, Olabisi Joseph, with the athletes’ performance, Nigeria announced its return to the world school map after 15-year absence, while affirming the federation commitment to unearthing talents from schools across the country. 
“We are so excited with the performance of the athletes that with little training, they were able to rub shoulders with their counterparts across the globe. For most of the athletes, this will probably be the first time they are travelling outside the country and with the unfriendly weather in France, they held sway against their counterparts which for us as a federation has shown that with quality preparation, we can have out athletes making it to the podium in most of the events,” she said. 
For the captain of the team Temitope Olusesan, the experience of the games would linger on in her heart, especially competing against the best athletes in the world. “I am so excited with the kind of opportunity given to us by NSSF to compete against the best in the world. This is a platform we cannot take for granted and this has shown us that we must continue to work hard so that we can also become world beaters. I am grateful for the chance to compete at the ISF Gymnasiade,” she said. 
With most of the athletes emerging from the World School Games trials staged by NSSF in February, the NSSF president said the second batch of the team would be embarking on another trip in November to China while efforts would be geared toward quality preparation for the games. 
Most of the athletes lauded NSSF for affording them the opportunity to compete at global level.