BEVERLY HILLS, April 09, (THEWILL) – The medals at the ongoing National Sports Festival (NSF), Edo2020, are piling up for the different Teams representing their States as some competitions wrap up while others kick off with day six well underway on Friday. So far on the medals table, Team Bayelsa has notched up 20 gold medals to rank second only to Team Delta, who top the table with 32 gold.
Of those 20, one athlete has helped Bayelsa to six. Ifiezibe Gagbe, Team Bayelsa swimmer has taken to the swimming pool with a dedication that is difficult to match.
With the personal record she has already attained, she has no intention of slowing down soon. Gagbe is aiming for four or more gold finishes before her events are over at the NSF.
On Friday, Gagbe took to the winners’ podium again for the 800m freestyle women event, taking gold with a time of 10:41.01 seconds. The excited Bayelsan, who was proud of her hard work paying off revealed, her ambition to get those extra gold medals she prepared for:
“I feel so excited. I have more than four events to participate in and I hope that they will all be gold.”
She explained her motivation: “The last festival in Abuja 2018, I won 14 silver medals, no gold. This was because I was not fit enough having delivered my baby. Now I am going to make a statement.”
She used the opportunity of the spotlight on her to make a direct plea to the Bayelsa government’s support for athletes: “I want the Bayelsa government to encourage the athletes.
“Government should encourage them with financial remuneration because sometimes we feel that after these competitions, nothing is offered to the athletes thereafter.”
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
