Nigerian table tennis star, Funke Oshonaike, says if she qualifies for Tokyo Olympics in 2020, she will go down in history as the only female in Africa to participate in seven Olympics.
The 44-year-old table tennis star made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Friday on the sidelines of the 19th National Sports Festival (NSF).
According to Oshonaike, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will be my last international outing and I intend to retire after the games and be a coach of the Nigerian team for the right price.
“If I qualify for Tokyo 2020, I am really going to thank God because I am going to be the only female in Africa that has been to seven Olympics. Thereafter, I would retire.
“Upon retirement, I could take up a coaching job in Nigeria and train the ladies; only if they can pay me because that’s the same thing (job) I do in Germany,’’ she said.
Oshonaike, who is representing Akwa Ibom in Table Tennis at the 19th NSF, said she planned to give back to the society by serving as a coach.
The 2007 Algeria All Africa Games gold medalist, who is a player and coach in Germany, will play her first game in the table tennis event scheduled to begin on Friday.
The 19th NSF with athletes from various states participating in 32 sports will end on Dec. 16.
