Taekwondo athlete to deāth in Nasarawa days after she won a silver medal

A Taekwondo athlete identified as Maria Uchenna Raphael, has been killed in a motor accident in Nasarawa State. Maria, who was a silver medal winner for team Nasarawa in the just concluded Bayelsa Open Taekwondo tournament, was crushed to death by a truck in Lafia, the state capital on Friday, August 26. The Nasarawa State Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, in a statement on Saturday, revealed that Maria had gone to purchase some items from a grocery store along UAC road few hours after returning home from the championship in Yenagoa, which ended on August 24th, 2022. The statement which was signed by the spokesperson of the ministry, Uche Amos, described the death as an unquantifiable loss, adding that her immense contributions to sports in the state would be sorely missed. “Words fail us as we were greeted today by the ugly news on the sudden death of one of our illustrious medal-winning athletes, Maria Raphael,” the statement read. “She also won silver medal for Team Na...