体坛英语新闻：Nigerian athletes begins preparations for 2016 Olympic Games

LAGOS, May 13 (Xinhua) -- The Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) said Monday that the preparations for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games had commenced.

Navy Commodore Nesiama Omatseye, the Federation's Technical Director, told reporters in Lagos that preparations for the global fiesta had been categorized into two parts by the AFN, the performance and the development-based aspects, which he said, would run side-by-side.

He said the performance-based aspect would focus on elite athletes, while the development aspect would dwell on budding talents.

The performance-based aspect of the program is meant to monitor and mentor our elite athlete both home and abroad, to improve on their performances, he added.

"While the development aspect of the program is targeted at grassroots athletes, to expose and groom them to the level that they can feature at the Games," he said.

"And the development based aspect is what we saw in the African Youth Athletics Championships (AYAC) in southern Warri, where our young athletes competed and did well," he said.

The director added that the federation had also organised a refresher course for coaches, to keep them acquainted with current trends in the sport.

Omatseye told reporters that the AFN had also decided to step up its standard for assessing athletes for the Games, to ensure that only the very best were selected.