Exclusive: I suffered psychological torture at Paris Olympics—Sports Minister Enoh

Sen. John Enoh, the Minister of Sports Development, has promised that a proper grassroots developmental program will restore the glory days of the Nigerian sporting sector.

Enoh, at the meeting to audit and review Nigeria’s participation at the just concluded Paris Olympic Games held at the media centre of Moshood Abiola Stadium in Abuja on Tuesday, re-echoed his stands on prioritizing grassroots development program over funding competition.

Persecondnews reports that sports journalists were barred from the meeting due to the sensitivity of the agenda for the day.

A reliable source from the Ministry of Sports quoted Enoh as saying: “The medals we got at the Paralympic Games in Paris can’t be compared to the performance of the same team in the previous edition.

“For that reason, we need to accept that our sports are in decline; this meeting is a very solemn gathering to correct the errors of our last outing.

“You wouldn’t understand the psychological torture I went through in Paris due to Team Nigeria’s medal drought; that’s why I had to organize a press conference right there in Paris. This is not what the state of our sports should be.”

“Prior to the Olympic Games when I took over office, I didn’t meet a template for the Paris Olympic Games, so we started most of the preparations on our own, and you are aware how many years it takes to train an athlete for a podium finish at the Olympics.

“We have a system that funds competition instead of grassroots development program and preparations for major continental and international competition; I assure you we have seen our lowest and we will never get to this point again.

“In the short term, our major plan for the games was immediate training camps and ensuring that no one was owed allowances to motivate the team and spur them ahead right there at the games village. We increased their camp allowances.

“For the Paralympic Team, we increased the prize money to over 200 percent; we did everything humanely possible within the time frame we had.”

Team Nigeria, for the eighth time (1952, 1956, 1960, 1968, 1980, 1988, 2012, and 2024), finished the Olympic Games without a podium placement in any sports.

Team Nigeria paraded 88 athletes who represented the country in 12 events, the majority of them largely female, with a significant presence from female soccer and basketball teams.

On Day 15 of the Olympics, Hannah Reuben’s loss in the women’s 76 kg freestyle wrestling event ended Nigeria’s participation in the competition.

She lost 5-2 to Mongolia’s Enkh-Amaryn Davaanasan in the round of 16 tie.

However, the Paralympic Team brought a ray of hope to the country, winning seven medals (2 gold, 2 silver, and 3 bronze).

Despite the athletes’ efforts to claim seven medals, the Paris 2024 outing fell short of the country’s previous outings since its debut in 1992.

Persecondnews recalls that in their debut outing in Barcelona with just six athletes, Team Nigeria claimed three gold medals to finish in 21st position, won three gold, two silver, and three bronze medals with eight athletes at Atlanta 96, and won seven gold, one silver, and five bronze medals, totalling 13 medals at Sydney 2000.

At Athens 2004, Nigeria ended the event with five gold, four silver, and three bronze, followed by a further decline at Beijing 2008, winning four gold, four silver, and a bronze medal.

London 2012 witnessed an improved performance from Team Nigeria matching their Sydney 2000 medal tally, as they claimed an impressive six gold, five silver, and two bronze medals.