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Nigeria confident of winning 10 Olympic golds

June 08, 2004 21:02 IST

Nigerian Sports Minister Musa Mohammed is backing his country to win 10 Olympic gold medals at the Athens Games in August.

"We're going there to win 10 golds and it's not a mere statement," Mohammed told Reuters on Tuesday.

"I've absolute confidence in the athletes and the coaching staff that we can achieve the target."

Nigeria have previously claimed only two Olympic golds -- in men's soccer and women's long jump at the 1996 Atlanta Games --

but Musa believes the country will easily improve on their three silver medals won in Sydney four years ago.

Nigeria's 115 strong-contingent will compete in 10 disciplines -- athletics, boxing, women's soccer, weightlifting, judo, taekwondo, women's basketball, table tennis, wrestling and tennis.

The minister said most of the athletes were in Germany and Cuba preparing for the Games which begins on August 13.

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