Making of Champions’ (MoC) Track Club and its quest to raise future Olympic medallists for Nigeria ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, has caught the attention of the international media, and was the subject of an exclusive feature aired on China Global Television Network (CGTN) recently.
It would be recalled that the company launched a GoFundMe Campaign on social media earlier in March, to help raise funds for its Student-Athlete Scholarship, to take care of the training and education needs of its 13 athletes ahead of Tokyo 2020.
MoC first launched the Scholarship (the first of its kind in Nigeria) in 2016, and the initiative kicked off with two athletes: Joy Udo-Gabriel (17 years) and Jeremiah Jakpa (18 years), who were awarded scholarships by Oil and Gas company, ARCO Group.
Watch CGTN Africa’s special feature below, which covered a training session of the athletes and Lagos Head-Coach and Olympic medallist, Deji Aliu. Afterwards, MoC Founder/CEO, Bambo Akani, and a couple of athletes, Joy Udo-Gabriel and Chiamaka Egbochinam, were also interviewed on the programme.
Giving an insight as to what Making of Champions is all about, Akani said: “We find the athletes, we offer them scholarships, we bring them into the club and we start training them while educating them at the same time.
“For as long as we can keep them funded, well-fed, give them an education between now and 2020, I think Team Nigeria is going to be flying at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.”
Meanwhile Aliu, a Bronze medallist at the Athens 2004 Olympics, believes that athletes in the Track Club will begin to make waves soon on the national and international scene. He said:
“I don’t have any doubt in my mind that before 2020 you will start seeing MoC products doing very well in various competitions. I’ve seen a number of them that can do far better than I did, and I know with the right structure and support, it’s not going to take them the time it took me to get to the top.”
This is not the first time MoC is being featured on an international program. Its flagship initiative, ‘Top Sprinter Genesis’ was featured on an episode of BBC’s Sportshour in December 2015.
You can be a part of this revolution by donating at www.bit.ly/makechamps today – join others who have already given towards the cause!
Give on our GoFundMe Campaign page here – www.bit.ly/makechamps
(To give in Naira, you can do so directly to the GTB Account of Making of Champions in Nigeria: 0148644947, and send an email to [email protected] with your account name & amount given, so that your Rewards can be redeemed for the amount you’ve donated!)
