Special report: 2008 Olympic
Games
LAGOS, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Nigeria's Amarachi Obiajunwa on
Sunday bagged a ticket to participate in wrestling at the forthcoming Beijing
Olympics in August, according the News Agency of Nigeria report on Tuesday.
Obiajunwa and three other Nigerians took part in the final Olympic
qualifiers held in Haparanda, Sweden from May 31 to June 1.
The Nigerian female wrestler fought in the female 72kg freestyle category
and defeated her French opponent Auddrey Prieto Bokhashvili.
She is expected to join compatriot Wilson Siware, 120kg Greco-Roman
fighter, who had earlier secured a berth at the Beijing Games.
Four Nigerian wrestlers had earlier qualified for the Games in February
during the African qualifier held in Tunisia in February, but lost their chances
because Nigeria failed to take part in the World Championships in September
2007.
The International Federation of Associate Wrestling Styles (FILA) rule
stipulates that Olympics-bound athletes must take part in the World
Championships.
Nigeria also failed to travel to Edmonton, Canada when the Nigeria Amateur
Wrestling Federation (NAWF) could not obtain visas for the wrestlers to take
part in another qualifier.