Top athlete Nadia Eke urges Government to invest in grassroots athletics

Top athlete Nadia Eke urges Government to invest in grassroots athletics

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Triple jump athlete Nadia Eke is disappointed over how Ghanaian athletes are treated in the country.

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The 2016 African championship gold medalist criticized the government over what she perceived as lack of investment yet growing expectation to win medals during the championships.

Speaking to Athletics Africa, the triple jump athlete called for a change in approach; charging the Ghana government to invest in grassroots athletics.

“It begins from the grass-root level. Why aren’t we investing in our own talent, why aren’t we cultivating that talent first of all, so that those people can go up to the highest level and accomplish X, Y, Z and then that could come back and reflect on us as a country,

“I think everyone looks at Usain Bolt’s career, especially in Ghana and I remember I was on a show once and they said, if Usain Bolt came to Ghana, the president will go and greet him.

“But you are an African champion and you have a national record and the president doesn’t even know your name,” Nadia fumed.

“We look at those countries and we are thinking, look at Usain Bolt but he was cultivated from the grass-root level, they invested time in his talent and now they are reaping the benefit of his talent.

“But for us, we are not doing that and we are expecting to reap the benefits of something we haven’t sown”, she concluded.

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Nadia Eke is one of a few athletes who have already qualified to represent Ghana at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics games.

She is a record holder for Ghana after having won both gold and silver for the West African country in the African championship since 2016.

Source-Athletics Africa

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