It was double jeopardy for Team Edo, defending champions of the the 3km and 4km Team Pursuit for female and male categories respectively as they failed to pick any medal Wednesday.
Meanwhile Team Delta quartet beat Oyo and Rivers to pick the gold medal in the 3km Team Pursuit in a time of 4minutes 26.40secs to dethrone Edo state.
Delta now leads with two gold medals in cycling, followed by Ogun state which won her first gold in the men’s 4km Team Pursuit after finishing in a time of 5mins 25.64secs ahead of Rivers and States which won the silver and bronze respectively.
Edo’s male team could not participate in the 4km Team Pursuit as Rivers state protested against two of their riders, claiming they are registered with the state.
Technical Director of the Cycling Federation of Nigeria, Bashir Mohammed ruled that any athlete registered by two states is not eligible to participate in the Sports Festival and ordered that the affected athletes be withdrawn.
Following their withdrawal, Edo Chief Coach, Orogho Bello could not present the required minimum of three riders allowed for the event and so couldn’t participate to defend the title they won as host last year.
