Scotland’s commercial centre, Glasgow will have the attention of the world and especially of nations in the Comonwealth tonight when the 2014 Commonwealth Games commences with an opening ceremony.
The ceremony is set to take place at Celtic Park, the 40,000 seater home ground of football club Celtic FC, which has seen a significant transformation for the Games following the installation of Europe’s largest LED screen in the stadium.
About 6,500 athletes from 71 participating countries will be introduced to the stadium and a live television audience estimated to reach a figure of 1.5 billion people during the opening ceremony.
Among the participating nations will be Team Nigeria with 127 athletes representing the country in six sports; athletics and para-athletics, weightlifting and powerlifting, wrestling, table tennis, shooting and boxing.
Team Nigeria’s preparations for the four-year sporting event has however been stifled by late release of funds for training camps and unpaid camping allowances to athletes as a consequence.
Regardless, there is still hope for Team Nigeria to be among the medals through sprint queen Blessing Okagbare, who goes into the Games in good form having won the 200m race in the IAAF Diamond League meet in Paris, ahead of USA’s Allyson Felix and Jamaica’s double world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryse who will also be at the Games.
There is also defending triple jump champion of the Games Tosin Oke who prepared for a defence of the title he won at New Delhi in 2010 by winning his sixth national title at the All Nigeria Athletics Championship held in Cross River in June.
The weightlifting team also carries Team Nigeria’s medal hopes having usually won the most medals for Nigeria at continental and global competitions, while Nigeria’s wrestling contingent, which arrived in Glasgow on Tuesday from their training camp in Romania, are also in high spirits for the competition.
The wrestlers meanwhile spared Nigeria’s blushes at the flag raising ceremony held on Tuesday at the Games’ Village in Glasgow by doing the honours at the small ceremony with their distinct attire as there reportedly was no ceremonial attire for Team Nigeria as at Tuesday.
That settled, Nigeria can now focus on improving on its medal of 11 gold, eight silver and 14 bronze medals from the 2010 Games in New Delhi over the 11-day competition in Glasgow.