The idea of discovering budding hidden raw talents in Nigeria to replace the aging ones has started yielding result as a 5 year old Precious Martin was discovered in the weightlifting event in the just concluded National Schools Sports Festival, being hosted by Rivers State, here in the Garden City.
Speaking to the mother of Nigeria’s youngest weightlifting future hopeful, Mrs. Helen Martins, who is also the coach of Cross River State weightlifters athletes, revealed that when little Precious was 9-months-old she used to take her to weightlifting competitions and training in her state, Cross River State, from there according to the mother, she started noticing the interest in the future Olympic Nigeria hopeful indicate in the sport.
Speaking further, Helen Martins, disclosed that anytime she sees someone lifting heavy item she would be interested in touching it, and thereafter go on to demonstrate lifting any item with her strength.
From there she started asking her mother to travel with her to any sports meeting “this is where we discovered that this girl is interested in weightlifting event in sports.
‘So I have serious talk with her asking her whether she wants to become a weightlifter, there she told me boldly that she wants to be a weightlifter. Since then she has been disturbing me to take her to weightlifting school, where she can be trained as a weightlifter.
“It does not stop there, anytime, I am traveling to any sports event or festival she won’t allow me to go alone, as she will be crying till I take her along.
When I discovered that she is bent to becoming a weightlifter in the future, so I started talking to her, and encouraging her, maybe you will become an Olympic star in weightlifting, this is how her journey of weightlifting started, as she will always want to demonstrate in any national sports festival.
“She was so serious that she wanted to got to Lagos 2012 National Sports Festival, popularly, called EKO 2012, to demonstrate, where I declined her proposal, telling her to wait till we are at the National Schools Sports Festival.
To encourage her achieve her aim and dream, I bought her weightlifting school bag and brought her to the 5th National Schools Sports.
The Happy mother of 5year, old Precious Martins revealed that the right age for one to go into combative special sports is 5years, stressing that Japanese are doing extremely well in these sports because they start the incubation and training of their children in such tender age.
She advised Nigeria to take a cue from the Chinese and Japanese as to claim their position in these sports. ###
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