Nigeria has again confirmed its status as a force to reckon with in the world after Charity Jatau claimed the gold medal in the Women’s 50kg at the maiden appearance of the country at the World Beach Sambo Championships in Casablanca, Morocco.
The two-day tournament which ended on Sunday, September 8 had teams and athletes across the world competing for honours in several events and Jatau, African Games and Championship gold medalist was unbeatable in her weight category as she defeats her counterparts from Morocco, Kazakhstan and Russia to capture the gold medal as the sole flagbearer of Nigeria at the global championships.
An elated Jatau described the victory as a reward for her hardworking in the last one year while promising to continue to work harder. “I am so happy to be part of the tournament and I must the Sambo Association of Nigeria (SAN) led by its President Loveth Howells and its Vice President, Sheriff Hammed for making it possible for me to be here because it was as if I would not be here. But they made frantic efforts through their personal support to ensure that Nigeria is represented in Morocco. It was not easy but with the determination and God’s grace I triumph and I hope my victory would inspire more athletes to embrace Sambo in Nigeria,” she said.
For SAN President, attending the tournament has again showed to the world body that Nigeria is ready to embrace the sport as efforts are being made to popularize it more in the country.
In his remarks, Hammed commended the President for her commitment to the sport while pledging to continue to encourage more people to identify with the sport as efforts are been made by the world body to engage the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to consider Sambo as part of the medal hauling event at the Olympic Games.
