Talented Nigerian siblings among whom are gifted twins Peter and Paula Imafidon have congratulated Nick Smith, coach of Tim Baillie and Etienne Stott, the proud winners of Canoe Slalom in the ongoing 2012 London Olympics.
By Chuma Okoro
The gifted Nigerian siblings among whom are super intelligent twins, Peter and Paula Imafidon who were part of the people that received the Olympic Torch as it passed through the streets of Stratford en route the Olympic stadium have warmly congratulated Nick Smith, coach of Tom Baillie and Etienne Stott, proud winners of the Olympic Gold medal in Slalom canoeing in the ongoing 2012 London Olympics.
Tim Baillie and Etienne Stott with the support and excellent coaching by Nick Smith, have put their names in Olympic history as the first ever British Born World Champions to win Team Great Britain’s first ever Gold medal in Canoe Slalom.
This is a great feat that has boosted Great Britain’s medal haul from an event previously dominated by Slovakia twin brothers Pavol and Peter Hochschorner.
It would also be the first time Nigeria would be represented in Olympic Canoe Slalom by Johnny Akinyemi. The 23-year-old lived and trained in the Chesire town of Warrington as part of the British slalom squad’s junior programme, until 2008 when he switched to Nigeria. In the country he discovered slalom canoeing does not mean much to most Nigerians but religion which is very important to him does, he has enjoyed a warm welcome and received great support from the church, he believes his faith has tremendously helped his canoeing career. Although his performance in London 2012 was not as he hoped, he is not discouraged by the turn of events, he sees Nigerian canoe slalom to be in its early stages and is determined to make a difference to the sport in Nigeria once London 2012 is over. His plans includes going to Calabar to see if he can find any white water to set up a club there. Akinyemi’s aspirations is to get kids growing up around canoes in Nigeria into a competitive environment and into the right kind of boat, he believes the future is bright for this project.
The multi-talented Imafidons who are students of the Excellence in Education (EIE) Programme in the United Kingdom are also sports enthusiasts and have excelled in sporting activities. Their achievements include success in 100m, 200m, 400m, 4x100m Relay and victory in International Boat race in January 2009.
The EIE Alumni has the likes of English soccer star Fabrice Muamba who had the honour of carrying the Olympic Torch like The Imafidons when it passed through his hometown of Waltham Forest.
Noted for their academic excellence, the Imafidons, Peter and Paula made Nigeria proud when they became the youngest twins ever to pass High School Level mathematics(GCSE) at the age of six and also pass University of Cambridge Advanced Maths exam at the of eight.
The eldest Imafidons Anne-Marrie who was absent at the occasion is reputed to be Oxford University’s youngest Maths and Computer Science Graduate and the youngest ever manager of a Fortune 500 company.
The twins, Peter and Paula with the Olympic Torch
