As the zero hour approaches swiftly to the closing ceremony of the 7th National Youth Games in Asaba, it seems that Delta State will finish top of the medals table at the end of the multi-sports competitions designed for athletes under the age of 15 years.
According to the medals count issued by the Main Organizing Committee as at the time of filing this report, Delta State, was leading the 36 other states, plus the Federal Capital Territory, with 63 medals.
Of this haul, 27 are gold medals, 20 are silver medals while 16 are bronze medals, making Delta State the undisputable pacesetters in sports in Nigeria.
Tagging behind Delta State on the medals standing is Lagos State. Lagos has won 16 gold, 11 silver and 12 bronze medals as at the time of filing this report.
Bayelsa, blessed with a sports commissioner in Olympic champion Daniel Igali is third on the medals table, with 11 gold, five silver and ten bronze medals while Edo State, whose athletes are led to the Games here by Olympian and national long jump record holder Yusuf Alli, is in fourth place, all thanks to winning 10 gold medals, five silver medals and 11 bronze medals.
Host of the last two editions of the National Youth Games, Kwara completes the top five teams on the medals table, all thanks to winning five gold, seven silver and five bronze medals.
Apart from Zamfara State, which is not participating in this year’s festival, the seven states of Adamawa, Benue, Enugu, Gombe, Niger, Sokoto and Taraba are yet to win any medal.
