Sprinter Divine Oduduru, felt at home as he warmed up on the tracks of the Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba, Delta State.
His mission here is to revive his career with the short sprints of 21st National Sports Festival. As he paced up and down the tracks he prayerfully psyched himself up, a sharp contrast to his usual flamboyant self. He’s been sobered up by the experience of dropping out of athletics for two seasons perhaps.
“I’m sure happy to be back training again, he said with a big smile across his face.
“I had an injury and was asked to lay off for a while, but now I’m back.
“I still have much left to prove in athletics, the National Sports Festival is a big stage for me.”
He and Enoch Adegoke are just about the only notable names in the men 100m and 200m on ground in Asaba.
And as the athletics events begin on Sunday, track and field enthusiasts are expecting a show down between the two athletes who have been down but not out. But it’s not clear if Oduduru will race in the 100m or Enoch in the 200m as both athletes would want to take it one day at a time in their comeback bid.
Adegoke has just recovered from a long injury lay off and he is looking to regain his confidence and control at Asaba 2022.
“Physically, Enoch is okay,” said coach Mutiu Oluwa.
“But you know it’s some times hard mentally for an athlete to recover from a long injury. All the same I believe the NSF is a good place for him to relaunch himself.
