Nigeria's only female judoka for Olympics leaves for overseas training

LAGOS, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Vivian Yusuf, who qualified for the judo event at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, is expected to leave the country for overseas training on June 6, the News Agency of Nigeria reported on Monday.

The Chief Coach, Nigerian Judo Federation (NJF), Bashir Bassey, said in Owerri, the capital city of Nigeria's southeastern Imo State, on Sunday that she undergoes training in four European countries.

Bassey, who did not name the countries, said she would join other Africans who qualified for the Olympics in the training being organized by the African Judo Union.

"The AJU had already concluded plans to train and expose the qualified African judokas before the Beijing Games. I am optimistic that with the training program, Yusuf will be better prepared for the Olympics," he said.

Bassey, a veteran of 1979 World Judo Championship in Paris, lamented that more Nigerian judokas would have qualified for Olympics if the country had started preparations earlier.

The coach and father of four national judokas said that NJF was prepared to give Yusuf the required support to excel at the Olympic if fund was made available.

Yusuf clinched a gold in 78kg category at the recently concluded African Judo Championship in Morocco.