CFN President, Giandomenico Massari

The President of Cycling Federation of Nigeria (CFN), Giandomenico Massari, on Friday said the country’s cyclists intending to participate in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics were already making preparations.

Massari told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja this would be through the federation using several qualification competitions to prepare the athletes for the 2020 Olympics.

He said the federation was planning to participate in two major events, one in January and another in February.

“This is to ensure that we don’t lose whatever we have gained so far, particularly in the female team.’’

Massari said the federation would participate in the female category of the African Track Championship in South Africa later this month and another championship in February in Ethiopia.

“We have to participate in the African championship to gain more points and to be qualified for the world championship and then qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics,’’ the federation president said.

He said these events would help the athletes to keep fit and also qualify for the African Games in Morocco.

Massari noted that the removal of cooking stoves from the Abuja velodrome was a good development for the federation, saying this would help the athletes to prepare adequately for every event.

“It is important that we train our athletes and also try to make efforts to identify new ones so that they will take over from the ageing ones. This is because you can have a champion today that can’t last forever. So, we also need to do more to get young athletes.’’(NAN)