PRESIDENT of the Paralympic Committee of Nigeria, Monday Emoghavwe, has predictedthat the country would win more medals at the 2016 Games in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, as the athletes now have reasons to fight for honours for the country.Reacting to the honour bestowed on the athletes, who won gold medals at the 2012 London Paralympic Games by President Goodluck Jonathan, Emoghavwe told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the gesture was a departure from what happened in the past.'The disabled sports has never had it so good and the non-recognition of disabled athletesby Nigeria's past leaders was enough to dampen one's spirit towards participating in sports in the country,' he said.And following the president's gesture, he added, Nigerian Paralympians would have no option than to surpass the London achievements in the 2016 Games. He noted: 'To whom much is given, much is expected.'I remember vividly when a former president said we should come and receive a golden handshake, when our counterparts in China who we performed better than were given $10 million and a house each!'Then we came back and many Nigerians did not even know that we travelled for the Paralympic Games. We are so happy that President Jonathan rewarded us, and he made us proud when he said that we were worthy of emulation.'The three-time Paralympic gold medallist said that apart from the presidential awards, the cash reward by the National Sports Commission (NSC) was another source of motivation for the athletes ahead of the Rio Games.The NSC gave each gold medallist, $7,500 and silver medallist $5,000, while each bronze medallist received $2,500. Emoghavwe added: 'It was only in 2000 Commonwealth Games in Manchester that we were selected to be given winning bonuses and, currently, the minister has extended it.'There were loads of challenges in terms of finance and technical input, but I just thank God that our travel to South Korea on a training tour boosted our performance.'You get a better result when you move an athlete out of his country to where he will focus very well and we were able to manage the challenges with the help of the minister, who deemed it fit to send us on a training tour.
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