The Director, New Media to the Governor of Bayelsa State, Mr. Kola Oredipe, says the third position of Team Bayelsa at the just concluded 20th National Sports Festival in Benin, Edo State was not by chance but product of hard work.

Oredipe, who was in Benin to cheer up the team, said in a statement on Friday that individual athletes were fired up for glory and that the performance was a strong statement that Bayelsa is a force to reckon with in sports.

Congratulating the team for the feat, the Governor’s aide praised the determination of the team to surpass the best sports festival fourth-place record of 2006 in Abeokuta, when Governor Douye Diri, was State Commissioner for Youth and Sports.

Oredipe, who thanked the Governor for providing necessary resources to the team, expressed the confidence that the State Government would make more investments into sports to engage more young Bayelsans meaningfully.

The Governor’s New Media chief, who is a former 800 metres athlete, singled out swimmer Ifie Gagbe for winning eight gold medals and 17-year-old Timma Godbless for winning silver in 200 metres women’s final in her first appearance at the Sports Festival.

Oredipe, while commending both the Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Daniel Igali, and the Director of Sports, Mr. Braveman Wodi, for their coordination, charged them to immediately commence preparation for the next festival holding in Delta State in 2022.