Head of Elite Athletes and Podium Board in the National Sports Commission (NSC), Yusuf Ali, has declared that the Invited Junior Athletes (IJA), who were put together last year by the commission, will be Team Nigeria’s joker at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

Although the Olympic Games are two years away, Ali, a three-time Olympian, whose national long jump record of 8.27m set in 1989 still remains unbroken, said the IJA athletes are already performing wonders across their fields, both at national and international competitions.

“The Olympic Games require three to four years of preparation, and for the first time in a long time, I can say the NSC has a clear roadmap for success ahead of the Los Angeles 2028,” Ali said.

“I am glad President Bola Tinubu gave the NSC all the needed apparatus to start early. Before the last National Sports Festival held in Abeokuta, the NSC put in place the Invited Junior Athletes (IJA) programme with budding athletes selected from various fields across the country. As we speak, they are making waves today, and they are part of Nigeria’s major hope for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics,” he said.

X-raying the impact of the programme after just one year, Ali said: “Look at the achievement of the IJA team within a short period. Three of them were part of Team Nigeria to the World Relays in Botswana, where they got four tickets to the World Championships. The trio of Ezechukwu Miracle, Rosemary Chigozie Nwankwo and Obi Jennifer, who came from athletics, competed in Botswana. Also, the IJA team contributed four athletes to Nigeria’s squad that competed at the 2026 Oceania Weightlifting Championships in Apia, Samoa. They are Favour Cornelius, Ezenwa Esther Chidalu, Ezenwa Chinaza Cecilia and Olarinoye Florence Oluwadamilare. They competed with over 500 elite athletes from more than 70 countries. They did very well in Samoa, winning some medals.”

According to Ali, the majority of the IJA athletes will be between 20 and 22 years old when the 2028 Olympics are held in Los Angeles. “That is the ripe age for athletes to explode at the Olympic Games. I was 19–20 years old when I competed at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. By the time I competed at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, I was 23–24 years old, and I placed ninth overall in the long jump. The Seoul ‘88 was my last at the Olympics level, and I was 28 years old then.”

The Guardian recalls that Jamaican speed star, Usain Bolt, won his first gold medal at the age of 22 at the Beijing 2008 Olympics. He won gold in both the 100m and 200m with a World Record. Several American athletes have achieved Olympic gold at the age of 20.

At the Paris 2024 Olympics, Amit Elor became the youngest American wrestler to win Olympic gold, competing in the 68kg freestyle category. She was just 20.

Ali said: “The IJA athletes are young, capable and are virtually in all our Olympic teams, from athletics to boxing, weightlifting, table tennis, and others. The NSC is monitoring them closely, and everything is being done to assist them morally and financially.

“Some of them are already in camp for this year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, while some are being prepared for various African and global championships. We are on course, and I am sure Nigerians will be proud of their achievement at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics,” Ali stated.

Ali is optimistic that some members of the IJA athletes could join the list at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.