All Nigerian athletes for the Beijing Olympics will train in South Korea and leave from there to China, a top official with National Sports Commission has said on Thursday.

Amos Adamu, Director General of the National Sports Commission (NSC), said the move was a clear departure from previous practice, when the athletes trained in countries with comparative strength in a particular sport.

"South Korea is where the training camp is and it is closer to China than Nigeria is," he said.

Apart from the Under-23 male soccer team currently training in Portugal, other Beijing-bound athletes were still in various camps in Nigeria.

Adamu said other athletes would leave for South Korea next month to round up their preparations.

"It will give us an opportunity of assessing the opposition ahead of the Games," he said.

Nigeria will take part in track and field, football, boxing, wrestling, weightlifting, swimming, judo and badminton .

(Xinhua News Agency June 27, 2008)