Amusan lost to conservation of strength, says Ogunkoya

Nigeria’s first athlete to win an individual track and field medal at the Olympic Games, Falilat Ogunkoya has offered explanations on why Nigeria’s biggest hope for a medal at Paris 2024, Tobi Amusan failed to make the mark.

Falilat who was Nigeria’s first medallist at the Atlanta ‘96 Games won a bronze medal in the women’s 400 m and a silver in the 4x400m.

“I think Tobi Amusan was tensed up. She was restless. I don’t know what really happened to her. She probably was trying to conserve her energy for the medal race and overdid it”, remarked Falilat while trying to explain the third position that the Nigerian brightest prospect had in the Heat 1 of the women’s 100m hurdles race.

Her chance of qualifying was hit a decisive blow when the third and fourth place in the last heat returned better time than the 12.55 seconds of Amusan.

For most of the Nigerian athletes, Falilat is of the opinion that they were probably over confident and in some instances failed to heed to instructions from their Team Nigeria coaches. 

“Most prefer to listen only to their foreign coaches. I am not saying they should discard them, but when they come to Team Nigeria, the coaches should be listened to.”