24 years after, a Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Ibadan Zonal Station staff, Mr Odion Aikhoje received his Olympic gold medal which he won at the 1998 chess Olympiad in Kalmk, Republic of Russia.

The medal was presented to Mr Aikhoje in Lagos by the president of the World Chess Federation, FIDE, Mr Arkady Dvorkovic at the opening ceremony of the ongoing African Individual Chess Championships.

Mr Aikhoje claimed the individual gold at the event, placing first ahead of International grandmasters like Smbat Lputian of Armenia, Yasser Seirawan of the United States and Nigel Short of England among others.

Receiving the award, Mr Odion Aikhoje appreciated God, FIDE and the Nigerian government for making the event possible after 24 years.

Reacting to why it took him this long to receive the medal, the chess international master noted that some unfortunate incidents and improper scheduling made him miss the closing ceremony of the 1998 Olympiad where he would have been presented with the award.

In a remark, FIDE president, Arkady Dvorkovic noted that the victory was particularly remarkable for Nigeria as only one other African had been able to achieve the feat to date – Robert Gwaze of Zimbabwe who won Gold in Slovenia in 2002, 4 years after Aikhoje made history.

Mr Dvorkovich maintained that FIDE would continue to invest and support the development of chess in Nigeria.

Jeffery Ahonmisi

Subscribe to our Telegram Channel and join our Whatsapp Update Group

pub-5160901092443552

Related Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *