Army female athlete, others shine, win medals at tournaments
NEWS DIGEST–A Nigerian Army female athlete and talented wrestler, Lance Corporal Hannah Reuben, has reclaimed her African title after she overpowered Amel Hammiche of Algeria in the final of the 65kg category, at the just concluded African Wrestling Championships in Algiers.
Hannah, who was sponsored to the Championships by both the Federal Ministry of Youths and Sport and the Nigerian Wrestling Federation, was among the athletes that represented Nigeria.
She and other medalists in the team are billed to represent Nigeria in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with high optimism.
Also, the Army Team, which participated at the second Rivers National Open Karate and Kick Boxing Championship held from 29 January – 2 February 2020 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, also led other contingents in the medal table after emerging first position with 10 Gold, 5 Silver and 6 Bronze medals.
Team Edo emerged 2nd with 10 Gold, 4 Silver and 2 Bronze medals, while Team Akwa-Ibom came 3rd with 4 Gold, 3 Silver and 4 Bronze medals in the same tournament.
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Similarly, a team of Nigerian Army athletes comprising 12 male and 6 female soldiers participated in the just concluded 5th Annual Lagos City Marathon held on Saturday 8th February 2020 in Lagos. The Army athletes competed among Africa’s and the world’s best in both the 42-kilometer Marathon and 10-kilometer races.
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai flagged off the historic event at the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, with over 50,000 athletes drawn from across the world to compete in the 2 categories vying for glory.
The Army Team clinched 9 individual cash prizes in the 42 kilometer, 10 kilometer male and female categories. In the Male category of the 42 kilometer Marathon, Private Solomon Dauda and Lance Corporal Raymond Nanribel won the 7th and 10th positions respectively.
Also, in the male category of the 10 kilometer race, Private Ibrahim Mubarak, Lance Corporal Nuhu Mohammed and Corporal Sunday Gontori clinched the 5th, 6th and 9th positions respectively, while in the female category of the 10 kilometer race, Private Adewale Hannah, Lance Corporal Naomi Yunana, Private Veronica Dechi and Private Ebenezer Joy put up a superlative performance to clinch the 6th, 8th, 12th and 16th positions respectively.
In his address to the victorious team, Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusufu Buratai congratulated the athletes for their brilliant performance, which he said has brought pride and honour to the Nigerian Army.
