Nigerian athletes have the potential to be as successful at London 2012 as Jamaica were in the Beijing Olympics, the country's leading athletics official claimed today.

Police Superintent Sunday Bada, formerly one of the world's leading 400 metres runners and now the technical director of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), believes that Nigerian athletes can be just as competitive as Jamaica, whose sprinters won a record 11 medals in Beijing last month, six of them gold.

He said in an interview published today in the Nigerian newspaper THISDAY: “An American track coach, John Smith asked me and Innocent Egbunike why is it Jamaica and not Nigeria doing the kind of show put up by the Caribbean nation.

"Smith followed the progress made by Nigerian athletes in the American collegiate system in the past and was sure that if any country was going to usurp the dominance of USA in track and field such nation must be Nigeria.

"He just could not fathom what had happened to that dream."

Nigeria has only ever won one gold medal in athletics since it started competing at the Olympics in 1952 when Chioma Ajunwa won the long jump upon her return from a two-year drugs ban.

That figure, though, could double if the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decide to upgrade the Nigerian 4x400m team, including Bada, which finished second at the 2000 Games in Sydney behind the United States, who were recently disqualified after one of its members, Antonio Pettigrew, admitted he was using banned performance-enhancing drugs at the time.

Bada claimed that lack of Government investment was behind Nigeria's failure to win a medal in Beijing and that they should reward medallists with financial incentives.

He also said that the lack of Nigerian athletes now attending universities in the US on scholarships was affecting their potential.

Bada said: “After the Atlanta’96 feat in the USA when Nigeria won her first and only gold medals at the Olympic and the rewards that followed, many athletes upped their training, hoping to emulate these stars who got both cash and other incentives like promotions in their work places.

"Most of these athletes carried the spirit to the Sydney Games but to their utter disbelief, there were no repeat of such reward systems.

"Perhaps, the Government was not too pleased by the silver and bronze medals the athletes toiled day and night to achieve.

"There was no reception to even welcome them.

"Instead, it was mere handshake, as reward.

“It was after this Games that the leg drain set in

“By the time we were hosting the All African Games in Abuja in 2003, the last generation of those in their primes like Mary Onyali-Omagbemi were almost on their way out and the American collegiate system that offered our athletes scholarships had tightened the noose, there by making it difficult to continue to supply us quality athletes."

Bada is urging the Government to back a system to help Nigeria's athletes begin preparations for London 2012 now and also to prevent its top athletes defecting to other countries, like Francis Obikwelu, who switched to Portugal and finished second behind Justin Gatlin in the 100m at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

He said: “Why can’t we start our own collegiate system to take care of athletes through scholarship?

"We need to put in place structures to reward excellence through hard work.

"Once an athlete knows that he is on a programme and does not need to think of where his next meal will come from or how to fund his training, he or she can concentrate fully on the business of sport.

“That is how is done elsewhere.

"We must begin to think and act in the best interests of our sportsmen and women.

"Once basic things of life are taken care of, I don’t see any reason why any serious athlete will be thinking of dumping Nigeria for another country.

"Francis Obikwelu was a potential Olympic medallist as a Nigerian athlete, no doubt but better incentive and preparation made him narrowly missing the gold for Portugal, his adopted country at the Athens Olympic.”

"If want gold medals in four years time, now is the time to begin preparation.”

Originally published in www.insidethegames.com

“Today’s Executive Committee meeting was the first held following the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the discussion indicated very clearly that all parties involved in the fight against doping are committed to further strengthening and coordinating their anti-doping activities under the World Anti-Doping Code,” said WADA’s President, The Hon. John Fahey.

“The fight against doping is a 24-7-365 responsibility. I am pleased that despite significant progress in the fight against doping in the past few years and months, stakeholders recognize the need to take further measures to protect the health of athletes and the integrity of sport worldwide.”

Prohibited List
The Prohibited List is one of the cornerstones of the harmonized fight against doping in sport. It specifies substances and methods prohibited in sport.

The 2009 List offers a number of changes compared to the 2008 List, including modifications in relation to specified substances in order to align the 2009 List with the more flexible sanctions set forth in the revised World Anti-Doping Code (2009 Code) to come into effect on January 1, 2009.

The objective of this flexibility, which was approved by WADA’s stakeholders as part of their unanimous endorsement of the revised Code last year, is to allow for enhanced sanctions for deliberate doping offenders, and reduced sanctions for inadvertent cheaters or for athletes who can unequivocally establish that the substance involved was not intended to enhance performance.

As a result, while all prohibited methods, the classes of anabolic agents and hormones, as well as stimulants and hormone antagonists and modulators so identified on the 2009 Prohibited List maintain their status, the remainder of prohibited substances will now be considered as specified substances for the purpose of more flexible sanctions.

This means that where athletes can clearly establish how a specified substance entered their body or came into their possession, and that such substance was not intended to enhance sport performance, the sanction may be reduced as low as a reprimand and no period of ineligibility.

At the same time, the use of non-specified substances should be more likely to result in a standard two-year ban for a first anti-doping rule violation, or to a ban of up to four years in cases of aggravating circumstances under the revised Code.

These circumstances can include, but are not limited to, being part of a large doping scheme, an athlete having used multiple prohibited substances or a prohibited substance on multiple occasions, or an athlete engaging in deceptive or obstructing conduct to avoid the detection or adjudication of an anti-doping rule violation.

Aggravating circumstances also include situations in which a normal individual would be likely to benefit from the performance-enhancing effects of the anti-doping rule violation beyond the otherwise applicable period of ineligibility.

“Specified substances, as defined in the revised Code, are not necessarily less serious agents for purposes of doping than other prohibited substances,” said WADA’s President.

“For that reason, an athlete who does not meet the reduction criteria could receive up to a four-year period of ineligibility in case of aggravating circumstances. However, there is a greater likelihood that specified substances, as opposed to non-specified substances, could be susceptible to a credible, non-doping explanation.”

Major Changes for 2009
In order to determine which stimulants (prohibited in-competition only) should be classified as specified or non-specified in the 2009 List.

The international experts serving on WADA’s scientific committees carefully considered various parameters, including the potential of these stimulants to enhance performance in sport, their risk to health, their general use in medicinal products, their legitimate market availability, their illicit use, their legal/controlled status in various countries, their history and potential of abuse in sport, their potential of addiction, the likelihood of approval for therapeutic use, their pharmacology, and other scientific elements, as well as the likelihood of a non-doping explanation.

As a result of this process and of the broad consultation traditionally carried out as part of the annual preparation of the List, stimulants identified as non-specified substances in the 2009 List (and therefore subject to a two-year sanction in the absence of aggravating or attenuating circumstances) include for example amphetamine, cocaine, bromantan and modafinil.

Other noteworthy amendments to the List include the removal from the 2009 List of alpha reductase inhibitors, a class of masking agents which used to be banned in- and out-of-competition. These substances have been rendered ineffective as masking agents of steroids through close consideration of steroid profiles by anti-doping laboratories.

As part of the development by WADA of the Athlete Passport concept—the objective of which is to monitor an athlete’s biological parameters over time in order to detect abnormal variations that could indicate potential doping—and following research and advances in anti-doping science, WADA accredited laboratories are now able to and required to systematically and closely consider steroid profiles in urine as part of the doping control process, which allows them to circumvent the masking agent properties of alpha reductase inhibitors.

“Refining the List is an important responsibility in WADA’s work and one of the key tools in the harmonization of the global fight against doping in sport,” said Mr Fahey. “It is an elaborate process involving the solicitation of input from all of our stakeholders so that changes are founded on expanding scientific knowledge and understanding of doping practices and trends.

The 2009 List reflects this expanding knowledge, as well as advances in anti-doping science and the recognition by WADA stakeholders of the importance of further harmonization of the fight against doping through the revised Code and International Standards.”

WADA assumed full responsibility for the List following implementation of the Code and the associated International Standards in 2004. The List is developed every year through a highly consultative consultation process, beginning with the circulation of a draft List among more than 1,700 stakeholders for comment.

The comments received are processed by WADA’s List Committee, who then presents its conclusions to WADA’s Health, Medical and Research Committee, who in turn submits its final recommendations to the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee, WADA’s ultimate policy-making body, reviews and determines the List for the following year at its annual September meeting.

Scientific Research
As is traditionally the case at its September meeting, WADA’s Executive Committee also approved scientific research projects for funding.

“Together with education and investigations, detection through scientific developments and intelligent testing is one of the most important weapons in the fight against doping in sport,” noted Mr Fahey.

“Recent developments in this area, such as the implementation of detection means for CERA at this year’s Tour de France, have shown that by anticipating doping trends and by closely cooperating with researchers and pharmaceutical companies, WADA and the anti-doping community are making significant leaps in the science of detection.”

WADA’s scientific research grant program, one of the Agency’s chief priorities, is dedicated to developing new and improved means for detecting performance-enhancing substances and methods.

WADA will commit US$6.5 million—approximately a quarter of its total budget—to scientific research as part of its 2008 research grant program. This will bring the total amount of grants provided by the Agency to scientific research since 2001 to approximately US$44 million. A record number of proposals (75) were received this year from 24 countries, and 30 were selected for funding by the Executive Committee.

These projects will help advance anti-doping research in such areas as the detection of blood manipulations, the development of techniques to detect gene manipulation, the development of new global technologies of detection, and the implementation of further means for detecting a number of substances including human growth hormone and various forms of erythropoietin.

New Delhi Laboratory Accreditation
The Executive Committee approved the accreditation of a new laboratory in New Delhi, India. The National Dope Testing Laboratory has successfully completed the requirements of the WADA accreditation process monitored by the Agency’s Laboratory Working Committee.

The New Delhi laboratory thus becomes the 34th WADA accredited laboratory in the world. (Click here http://www.wada-ama.org/en/dynamic.ch2?pageCategory.id=333 for the list of WADA accredited laboratories.)

International Standards
In addition, the Executive Committee approved a new International Standard and two revised International Standards. The purpose of the International Standards is to harmonize technical aspects in the fight against doping in sport.

Current International Standards include the Prohibited List, the International Standard for Laboratories, the International Standard for Therapeutic Use Exemption, and the International Standard for Testing. These are mandatory for Code signatories.

Members approved revised versions of the International Standard for Therapeutic Use Exemption and the International Standard for Laboratories, which include a number of technical amendments in order to harmonize their provisions with the revised Code and the 2009 List. These two revised Standards will go into effect on January 1, 2009

The Executive Committee also approved the new International Standard for the Protection of Privacy and Personal Information, which will also go into effect on January 1, 2009. However, the Executive Committee asked WADA’s management to continue its discussions with European governments to see whether any further improvements might be made.

This Standard will ensure that all relevant parties involved in anti-doping in sport apply a minimum suitable privacy protection in relation to the collection and use of athletes’ personal data—as it relates to whereabouts, doping controls and therapeutic use exemptions.

WADA led an extensive consultation process among stakeholders, legal experts, international organizations, and the commissions on privacy protection from several countries, and released two draft versions for feedback in order to develop the final version approved today by the Executive Committee.

The last International Standard—the revised International Standard for Testing—was approved by the Executive Committee at its May 2008 meeting and will go into effect on January 1, 2009, at the same time as the revised Code and the other new or revised International Standards.

“The implementation of the revised World Anti-Doping Code and International Standards will further strengthen global anti-doping rules for the benefit of the clean athletes” said WADA’s Director General David Howman.

“Thanks to the experience accumulated by the anti-doping community since these rules first came into effect in 2004, and thanks to the very broad consultation process we went through, soliciting input from all stakeholders and interested parties, these revisions will help further solidify technical aspects of anti-doping programs while rigorously protecting athletes’ rights. We are looking forward to their implementation by stakeholders by January 1, 2009. ”

The next meeting of WADA’s Executive Committee will be held on November 22, 2008, in Montreal. WADA’s Foundation Board, the Agency’s supreme decision-making body, will meet the following day.

As is traditionally the case for its September meeting, the Executive Committee will consider the List of Prohibited Substances and Methods (List) for approval for the following year.

The Prohibited List is revised annually through a highly consultative process, beginning with the circulation of a draft List among more than 1,700 stakeholders. The comments received are processed by WADA’s List Working Committee, who then presents its conclusions to WADA’s Health, Medical and Research Committee.

The latter in turn submits its final recommendations to the Executive Committee, who discusses the recommendations and makes a final decision at its September meeting. (Click here http://www.wada-ama.org/en/prohibitedlist.ch2 for more information on the process for preparing the List.)

The 2009 List will be published by October 1, 2008, and will come into force on January 1, 2009. Executive Committee members will also approve scientific research projects for funding, which is also done annually at the September meeting.

WADA’s scientific research grant program, one of the Agency’s chief piorities, is dedicated to developing new and improved means for detecting performance-enhancing substances and methods. Since 2001, WADA has committed more than US$37 million to advancing the science of anti-doping.

In addition, WADA’s Executive Committee will consider for approval the International Standard for the Protection of Privacy and Personal Information.

The purpose of this new International Standard is to ensure that all relevant parties involved in anti-doping in sport apply a minimum suitable privacy protection in relation to the collection and use of athletes’ personal data—as it relates to whereabouts, doping controls and therapeutic use exemptions.

WADA led an extensive consultation process among stakeholders, legal experts, international organizations (such as the Council of Europe) and the commissions on privacy protection from several countries. Two draft revisions of the Standard were released over the course of the past year in order to develop the final version presented to the Executive Committee.

Other topics to be addressed at the meeting include WADA's draft 2009 budget; updates on the preparation of the World Anti-Doping Code (Code) compliance report to be released in November; the implementation of the revised Code and International Standards by January 1, 2009; and current issues in relation to the fight against doping in sport.

A press conference with WADA’s President the Hon. John Fahey and Director General David Howman will be held following the meeting.

Date: September 20, 2008

Time: 4:30 p.m.

Location: WADA Headquarters, Stock Exchange Tower (17th floor), 800 Place Victoria, Montreal.

Journalists who plan to attend the press conference are required to register by contacting Frédéric Donzé, WADA’s Senior Manager, Media Relations & Communications, at frederic.donze@wada-ama.org by September 19.

Bid chief Mercedes Coghen is experiencing the full range of Paralympic events in Beijing to see how Madrid can meet the promise to deliver a Games for everyone of all backgrounds and abilities.

"The Beijing Olympics was a wonderful experience for us all," said Mercedes, "It demonstrated how important it is for any host city to have an impressive infrastructure and strong organization to ensure success.

"This is every bit as true for the Paralympics and one of the main themes of our bid is the Human Touch, the Games where everyone can live the Olympic and Paralympic dream.

"We want all our venues and the athletes village offer everything athletes with a disability could wish for and we want to inspire young people of all abilities to be involved in sport in the future - that would our the greatest legacy." she said.

Mercedes, herself is a former Olympic gold medallist, is fully aware of the joy associated with receiving the highest possible sporting honour. "It's about people," she says, "and we are truly inspired to ensure our event is the "Games of the People" and this will resonate with sports people around the world.

Sport brings people together to live the values of equality," she said.

Madrid 2016 Paralympic Bid Sports Coordinator Mariano Ruiz is part of the top level Spanish delegation visiting Beijing.

The fourfold Paralympic medalist said:" I have been fortunate to experience what it is like to compete at this level and I have been very impressed with what I have seen in Beijing.

Our challenge now is to learn from Beijing to ensure that Madrid delivers the best Paralympics possible in 2016."

Nigeria's women 4x100m relay team and 19-year-old Long Jumper Blessing Okagbare gave Nigeria two surprise bronze medals today at the Beijing's Bird Nest stadium.

The quartet of Franca Idoko, Gloria Kemasuode, Halimat Ismaila, and African sprint champion Oludamola Osayomi claimed the bronze medal in a time of 43.04secs.

Nigeria, the Barcelona 1992 bronze medalists, only managed to qualified as one of the fastest losers from yesterday's semi-finals due to a near disastrous baton exchange between Gloria Kemasuode and Agnes Ozazuwa on the 3rd leg.

But, today with UTEP Senior Halimat Ismaila running in place of Ozasuwa benefitted from baton disasters by the highly favoured Jamaican and American quartets to pick third.

Russia, the Athens 2004 silver medal winners, with Evgeniya Polyakova, Aleksandra Fedoriva, Yulia Gushchina and Yuliya Chermoshanskaya took the gold medals in a time of 42.31 seconds, and reigning world championships bronze medalist Belgium, this time made up of Olivia Borlee, Hanna Marien, Elodie Ouedraogo, and Kim Gevaert, claimed the silver medals in a time of 42.54s.

Okagbare-truly blessed

University of Texas, El Paso (UTEP) Sophomore Blessing Okagbare gave Nigeria her first medal when she took the bronze with a huge 6.91m personal best in her first jump in the women's Long Jump.

After failing by 0.01 metre to make the cut in the women's Long Jump Qualifying on Wednesday when she was beaten to the 12th position by Jamaica's Chelsea Hammod (6.60m to Okagbare's 6.59m), she must have thought her Olympics adventures was over.

But, Blessing was reinstated to the Long Jump final after Ukrainian heptathlete Liudmyla Blonska tested positive and was thrown out of the games yesterday.

Higa Maurreen MAGGI of Brazil took the Gold with her first effort of 7.04m, a season's best whilst defending Olympics Long Jump champion and current Triple jump silver medalist Tatiana Lebedeva of Russia settled for Silver despite a huge 7.03m final effort.

Full RESULTS

Women's Long Jump Final:

1 Higa Maurreen Maggi (Brazil) 7.04m SB Gold

2 Tatiana Lebedeva (Russia) 7.03mSB Silver

3 Blessing Okagbare (Nigeria) 6.91m PB Bronze

Women's 4 x 100m Relay Final:

1 Russia 42.31 Gold

2 Belgium 42.54 Silver

3 Nigeria 43.04 Bronze