ANOCA To Support African Athletes To Win Olympic Medals

The Association of National Association of Olympic Committees (ANOCA) has initiated a programme to support African countries to improve their medal haul at the next Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.

As part of the programme, ANOCA has organized a workshop for member countries in Africa zone three in Ougadougou, Burkina Faso designed to boost their performance at the Tokyo Games.

ANOCA will also fund and organize a three-month training camp for all athletes from Africa who will qualify for the 2020 Games.

In addition to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Scholarship being enjoyed by Africa’s elite athletes, ANOCA has voted an amount of $1 million to support as many athletes as possible from the continent not only to boost their qualification for Tokyo 2020 but to motivate them to win medals for their countries.

Among the countries which participated in the workshop were Ghana, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’ Ivoire, Liberia, Nigeria, Niger and Togo. Ghana was represented by the GOC president, Ben Nunoo Mensah.

Meanwhile, the continental body was also putting measures to set up a Tokyo 2020 Commission to spearhead Africa’s preparations for the Games.

The workshop with the theme: “The Road To Tokyo 2020” was opened with an address by the President of ANOCA, Mr Mustapha Berraf who gave the assurance to provide the requisite support for African countries as they strive to win medal.

Ghana has won three Olympic medals in history, but the nation is yet to win an Olympic Gold medal.

Ghana’s Tokyo 2020 working committee has also come out with a slogan to motivate and inspire athletes to win medals.