As the 2019 Athletics season is due to commence, Cyprian Oyedele, a high jump gold medallist at the 2018 ECOWAS region II championships, has set a 2.30m target for himself.
Oyedele told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Monday that though he could not meet the target of 2.20m at the 2018 National Sports Festival, he was optimistic of surpassing it in 2019.
He won a silver medal at the NSF competition held in Abuja with a height of 2.10m.
Oyedele said that jumping a height of 2.30m would prepare him ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, saying that with hard work and God, he would achieve it.
“I really wished that I jumped 2.20m at the NSF competition, but I know in 2019, I am hoping and praying that I make a 2.30m preparing for the 2020 Olympics,’’ he said.
NAN reports that jumping a height of 2.30m would place Oyedele alongside Jamal Wilson of Bahamas, Django Lovett of Canada, Turkey’s Alperen Acet and Kenya’s Matthew Sawe, who are ranked 21.
The 500 level student of Agricultural Economics at the University of Ibadan said that combining school work with sports has not been easy, but he was grateful about rounding up his first degree.
“Combining school work with sport is not easy, as you come back from training, instead of resting, I take my bath and go to class and then I end up sleeping in class.
“In fact, in as much as my supervisor loves me, he was beginning to consider me as an unserious student because my course mates had gone to get data for their projects.
“I did not start mine in time because I have been focusing on how to come out successfully at the sports festival but I am grateful to God,’’ he said.
Oyedele, though an indigene of Ondo, who resides in Ibillo, Edo state said that he has not seen his family for two years because of training and lack of facilities in his community.
“In the last two years, in the course of training, I had to stay behind with some of my friends who live outside the school so I can be able to use the school facilities to train.
“Going home will reduce all that, as I even had to spend the festive period in Ibadan because of my project and training,” he said.
Oyedele also won a gold medal with a height of 2.05m at the West African University Games (WAUG) in Port Harcourt in November. (NAN)
