[size=15pt]Rio Paralympics 2016: Nigeria's Paralympic powerlifters show the way[/size]

Abridged Article below:




As Nigeria's Paralympians return from Rio after their most successful ever Games, BBC Sport's Oluwashina Okeleji examines the country's extraordinary dominance in powerlifting and asks what lessons the faltering national football team could learn from their success.

Nigeria closed the Rio Paralympics with eight golds, two silvers and two bronze medals to finish 17th in the medal table and top among African countries.

Compare that with the performance of Nigeria's able-bodied Olympians a few weeks earlier, who brought home just one bronze medal, finishing a lowly 78th in the Rio 2016 medal table.

Nigeria's Paralympians, who first competed in Barcelona in 1992, have always outperformed the Olympians.

At the London Olympics four years ago, the green and white flag was never hoisted at a medal ceremony.

In contrast, the Paralympic team returned home with 13 medals.



Discipline:

"They leave their homes and wheel their chairs from 05:00 because we start training by 06:00 every Monday, Tuesday and Friday. That is commitment," Feyisetan tells me when describing the team's training regime. Despite numerous unfulfilled financial pledges, the team has never boycotted a competition or gone public over unpaid wages.

By contrast, at the World Cup in 2014, Nigerian players boycotted training in a row over unpaid bonuses, one in a long line of similar disputes. The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) regularly cites cash constraints and lack of sponsorship for the team's failures.

Loyalty:

Feyisetan has been the national powerlifting coach since 2006, rejecting lucrative offers from five different powerlifting federations.

Over the same period, the Nigerian football team has had 11 different managers.

Focus and fairness:

Officials are fond of meddling in team selections when it comes to football, but in powerlifting there is no room for top government officials to impose athletes on coaches or distract participants.

The powerlifters have constantly fought off local politicians' desire to hijack their successful discipline for publicity stunts.

Footballers are distracted by media attention and social media distraction - the powerlifters, who are less well known, focus solely on their sport.


Full Article:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-37406133