Lagos State athlete, Demilade Adedinsewo has admitted that she and her colleagues were not at their best in the 4x100m mixed relay event of the 8th National Youth Games in Asaba.
Against all pre-competition expectations, the quartet from Lagos State was good enough only for fourth place, which meant they did not qualify for a medal.
However, while rueing her inability to help the Centre of Excellence pick a medal in the event, Adedinsewo opted to look to the future and plan for a better outing next time out.
She decided to pick some rare positives from her experience in Asaba and stressed that she would love to return next year with the Lagos State delegation to NYG 2025.
Adedinsewo said, “It was a nice experience because I have never been to Asaba in the first place. So, it’s a new exposure for me.
“Being in the hostel wasn’t the best experience, but it was fun and wonderful in terms of meeting people.
“I was able to learn sign language and communicate with some deaf people. I began to find it easier to communicate with my hands.”
She then shot her mind back to the onset, recalling that she had not been very keen on the prospect of being at Asaba 2024 when her name was announced in the roster of Lagos State.
“When I was told that I would be part of the team in this competition, I was very nervous. I wasn’t really excited.
“It changed when we got here because I began to see lots of interesting things and I now cherish the experience.
“I did not win any medal, but I would love to be here again next year …. to correct all of my errors.
“For instance. I ran the 4 by 100m mixed relay against Anambra, Niger, Delta and two other states, but came fourth in that race,” Adedinsewo recalled.
She concluded by recalling that more hours of training was her biggest gain from being at Asaba 2024 and enthused that it would spur her to higher ground in the coming days.
“This competition has provided a lot of training opportunities for me. I am still going to train more when I get back to Lagos.
“I want to put in more effort so that I’ll be way better when I return here next year,” Adedinsewo posited
