Millicent Agboegbulem, a sparring partner to Edith Agu-Ogoke at the London 2012 Olympic Games has said that her dream was to represent the nation at Tokyo 2020 Olympics in Japan.
Agboegbulem told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday that she would make extra effort to participate in national and continental competitions as part of her build up to the Games.
“Although I have not been able to actualise my vision after my attempt in 2012 and 2016 to fly the country’s flag at the Olympics, but I am targeting Tokyo 2020 Olympics.”
“I am working hard and taking advantage of every training opportunity to prepare myself ahead of competitions in and outside the country, so as to boost my record,’’ she said.
The 75kg class female boxer said she would take every competition seriously, especially national trials used to identify and select boxers for various Olympic trials.
Agboegbulem, who featured and won a gold medal in 75kg category at the just-concluded National Open Boxing Championships in Lagos, added that such competitions should be regular.
“I will participate in any competition with all seriousness because I don’t want to be a victim of upset, and besides, every participant in the competition aspires to win.”
“My victory at the recent championships is a thing of joy; I will sustain it in any championship to enable me to achieve my vision of Tokyo 2020 Olympics,’’ she said.
She appealed to the Nigeria Boxing Federation (NBF) to ensure that the poor state of the boxing gymnasium was upgraded, adding that it was not befitting of a nation like Nigeria.
While applauding the NBF for well organised championships, Agboegbulem urged the federation to ensure boxers across the country are kept in competition form.
NAN reports that Edo-born Agboegbulem had featured at various national boxing championships, including the biannual National Sports Festival (NSF) in Ogun and KADA 2009 in Kaduna.
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