By Samuel Akpan in Paris
With the curtains coming down on the biggest global sporting spectacle, Team Nigeria for the eight time (1952, 1956, 1960, 1968, 1980, 1988, 2012 and 2024), finished the games without a podium placement in any sports.
Team Nigeria paraded 88 athletes who represented the country in 12 events with majority of them largely female, with significant presence from female soccer and basketball teams.
Persecondnews observed that the 2024 Olympics are the first in history to achieve numerical gender parity on the field of play, with an equal number of female and male athletes participating in the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Out of the 10,500 athletes who participated in the Games, 5,250 are men and 5,250 women.
Nigeria’s participation in the competition was concluded on Day 15 of the Olympics after Hannah Reuben lost her women’s 76kg freestyle wrestling.
She lost 5-2 to Mongolia’s Enkh-Amaryn Davaanasan in the round of 16 tie.
The Good
Despite not winning a single medal, Persecondnews correspondent reporting live from Paris observed some bright stars that have potential of a podium finish, if they start their training programme ahead of Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, huge, good results would be recorded.
Samuel Ogazi (18 year old)
The sprint star broke two records on his way to the 400m finals, setting a new personal best and also gave USA’s Quincy Hall a tough challenge in the quarterfinals of the 400m.
Ogazi became the first Nigerian male quarter-miler to qualify for the 400m semifinals in the Olympics in 24 years, Persecondnews recalls.
Ogazi ran a new personal best of 44.50s to book an automatic spot in the semifinals of the men’s 400m, closing in very fast to finish 2nd and earn his place in the semis.
The Nigerian got off the block very slowly but finished very strong, only behind the USA’s Quincy Hall, who won the race in 44.28s.
In the semis of the mens 400m, he became the first Nigerian athlete in 36 years, since the great Innocent Egbunike to qualify for the 400m final at the Olympic Games.
Ogazi ran the race of his life, running a new PB of 44.41s to finish 3rd in Heat 3 of the 400m semis.
Ezekiel Nathaniel (21-year-old)
The young Nigerian comes from a sporting family, with all his siblings being athletes like him.
Nathaniel before the Olympics games shattered the Nigerian 400mH Record at the Tom Jones Invitational, running a brilliant 48.29s.
He automatically qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics, surpassing the Olympic standard by almost half a second.
He became the first Nigerian athlete in 12 years to make the semifinals of the 400m Hurdles at the Olympics. The last Nigerian athlete to qualify for the semis of this event was Amaechi Morton at London 2012.
Before Morton, only the legendary Henry Amike made the semis, dating back to Los Angeles 1984 when he equally qualified for the final of the 400m Hurdles.
Favour Ofili (21-year-old)
It was a traumatic start for Ofili as she was embroiled in the crisis of her omission from the women’s 100m.
Ofili qualified for the women’s 100m as the Nigerian champion after winning the National title in Benin.
However, she wrote her name in the history books as she became the first Nigerian woman to qualify for the final of the 200m at the Olympics in 28 years.
After the race she said: “I got the job done, I wanted to be in the finals because I know that I have everything it takes to be there”.
Ese Brume (28-year-old)
Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Brume is one of Nigeria’s most consistent athletes through the years and a great leader of Team Nigeria.
She qualified for the women’s final of long jump after leaping to an automatic qualifying mark of 6.76m to book her spot in the final.
Brume was in danger of missing out after falling to 9th place, but she came up big on her final attempt to qualify for the final.
She led the duo of Ruth Usoro and Prestina Ochonogor, being the first time in the history of the games, three Nigerian women qualified for the final of the women’s long jump.
Best Team; D’Tigress
Not much was expected of them going into the Olympic Games, not with the hoops they had to jump through just to get to Paris.
The team entered the Olympics women basketball event as the lowest ranked team, but defeated Australia ranked 3rd in the world and Canada ranked 5th in the globe en route to an historic quarterfinals against USA.
Rena Wakama’s team showed in the quarterfinals the same spirit that had seen them previously take down the No. 3 and No. 5-ranked teams, and they came away from the tournament with a lot of credit, and a little more history.
Their 74 points scored against the U.S. saw them post 73 points or more in consecutive games for the first time at the Olympics, and their 26 points in the fourth quarter is the most the U.S. have conceded in the last quarter in this competition.
They also held the U.S. to their lowest winning margin in an Olympic quarterfinals; their previous wins were by 15 points or more.
Nigeria held Team USA to 88 points, the second-lowest tally they have posted at these Olympic Games, while D’Tigress’ 74 puts them on par with the other teams the U.S. have defeated: Japan scored 76, Belgium 74 and Germany 68, the trio conceding 102, 87 and 87 respectively.
And to think this was a poor shooting night for Nigeria, they made just one of nine three-point attempts in the first half, and regular sniper Amy Okonkwo just could not get her shots from behind the arc to drop, even when wide open.
The Ministry of Sports Development and the NBBF must do everything to keep Wakama improve on the team for a podium finish in Los Angeles 2028.
The Bad
Poor funding, inconsistent sporting policies and a lack of grassroots developmental blueprint have hampered the growth of Nigerian sports.
Schools- from primary to tertiary- provided the basics for a child’s holistic development where apart from academics, sports and other skills and craft are taught.
That is not the case today as the level of Physical Education (PE) in Nigeria leaves much to be desired.
The collapse of the school system which is a product of the commercialisation of that sector has negatively affected sports development. Most private schools do not have recreational or sports facilities. Grassroots development is extinct.
Athletics have been Nigeria’s most successful Olympic sport, yielding 14 medals: two gold, five silver, and seven bronze. The country’s first individual gold medal came from Chioma Ajunwa in the long jump at Atlanta 1996.
Other notable medalists include Falilat Ogunkoya (silver in the 4x400m relay and bronze in the 400m, Atlanta 1996) and Mary Onyali (bronze in the 4x100m relay, Barcelona 1992, and 200m, Atlanta 1996).
Athletics in Nigeria have gone through many stages. From the colonial times when it was basically a recreational pastime among the white masters, through the post-colonial era when sports became competitive, as athletes competed for glory to the present level that has seen sport metamorphose into money-spinning ventures.
To produce podium performances, athletes need to be developed from early ages, through regimented training to maturity. This can only be achieved through an articulated sports development policy, hinged on grassroots development.
For instance, 73% of all Kenyan gold medals and a similar percentage of silver medals at major international long distance competitions came from Rift Valley region.
Most of the Kenyan runners who dominate marathons worldwide train and live in the high-altitude Rift Valley.
Iten, one of the towns that produce elite runners, sits nearly 8,000 feet above sea level in western Kenya. Training at high altitudes contributes to a running dominance that makes running at lower elevation child’s play, Onywera says.
Iten has become known internationally as the place where long distance champions are made. So much so, runners from around the world go there to train before major races.
Football has brought Nigeria three medals: gold (men’s team, Atlanta 1996), silver (men’s team, Beijing 2008), and bronze (men’s team, Rio 2016). The historic 1996 gold medal run, which included victories over Brazil and Argentina, remains a major highlight of Nigeria’s Olympic history.
Lack of a proper developmental process in the Nigerian footballing sector has stunted the growth of our cadet team, since winning the bronze medal at Rio 2016, the U-23 for the first time in 72 years failed to qualify for back-to-back Olympics competition.
The Scandals
Scandal rocked Team Nigeria before they settled in for the opening despite adequate measures put in place by the Federal Ministry of Sports Development in ensuring podium finish.
Nigerian boxer Cynthia Ogunsemilore was banned from competing at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games after failing a drug test.
The 22-year-old, a gold medalist at the African Games and bronze medalist at the Commonwealth Games, tested positive for the banned substance furosemide, a diuretic.
The International Testing Agency (ITA) conducted the out-of-competition test on July 25, on behalf of the International Olympic Committee. Ogunsemilore tested positive for furosemide, which is on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) prohibited list.
At the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics team, Nigeria wore two outfits one from the Ministry of Sports Development and another from the Nigerian Olympic Committee (NOC)
The disparity in the outfits of Team Nigeria was a result of the shady deal the NOC had with ‘Active Black’ without the consent of the Ministry, the Federal Ministry of Sports Development had said.
A top official of the Ministry, who spoke with Persecondnews correspondent in Paris on the condition of anonymity on Monday, said: “The Ministry has no deal with Active Black. The NOC is trying to ambush the ministry with the questionable kit deal.
“The traditional attire of Team Nigeria at the opening ceremony was solely sponsored by the Ministry. Anything the NOC is doing is to compliment the effort of the Ministry.”
The official added:”No letter was written to us about the deal or what was contained in the deal that was signed by NOC. What is more shocking is that they claim the kit was manufactured in the US, whereas our findings revealed it was done in Lagos.”
Team Nigeria was rocked yet with another scandal as Nigeria’s national champion in the women’s 100-meter sprint was denied the opportunity to race at the Paris Olympics because she says her country’s track federation didn’t enter her into the field in time.
Favour Ofili said on her official X handles: “It is with great regret that I have just been told I will not be competing in the 100 meters at this Olympic Games.
“I have worked 4 years to earn this opportunity. For what?”
However the Sports Minister, Sen. John Enoh, vowed to find out why Nigerian athlete, Ofili, was excluded from the 100m race, expressing his disappointment in a statement on his X handle.
According to him, he had been working tirelessly to resolve the issue, as he engaged with officials from the Nigeria Olympic Committee and the World Athletics.
He promised to probe the matter religiously after the Olympics.
“At what point did her name drop out of the 100m race? Who’s responsible for this? What’s the motivation behind this?
What’s the trail of communication from AFN to NOC and IOC and/or World Athletics? All these are questions that must be answered immediately after the Olympics.”
Nigeria’s first ever Olympic cyclist was forced to borrow a bike from the German team to compete in Paris after being unable to source one.
Ese Ukpeseraye was initially only registered for the women’s road race but competed in the Keirin and the Sprint which require a different type of bike at short notice.
The 25-year-old athlete revealed on social media that, in a touching gesture, the German cycling squad came to her rescue to ensure she could participate.
“Due to the short notice of me competing at the keirin & Sprint, #TeamNigeria, I had no bicycle to race with on the tracks,” Ukpeseraye wrote on X.
“In the spirit of sportsmanship the German team @bunddeutscherradfahr came to my rescue by offering me a bicycle. Thank you.”
The sports ministry came under fire on social media following the X post by Ukpeseraye.
Reacting in an X post on the sports minister said Ukpeseraye’s post was “grossly misunderstood.”
“Team Nigeria was fully prepared for this road race until two weeks ago after the Cycling team with the rest of Team Nigeria had already left for the Olympics, that a communication from the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) was received reallocating additional slots to the Cyclist Federation of Nigeria (Kerin and individual sprint).
“For this track race reallocated to Team Nigeria, very special equipment (approved specifically for the Olympic track game) is used.
“It will take months to have it delivered after ordering and making payment. To therefore get Ese to compete, the Federation through Ese’s club in Europe and working with a German-owned Company, got a ‘Track Bike’ for our cycler Ese.”
All said, the road map for Los Angeles 2028 for Nigeria must begin immediately after departing France as promised by Sports Minister Enoh at a media parley in Paris in his reaction to the underwhelming and dismal performance of the 88 athletes in the games.
The minister obviously deserves a pay on his back for the reforms put in place in the last one year which require time to fructify.
Team Nigeria went to Paris Olympics 2024 but came back empty.
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