By EMMA JEMEGAH
The world sports showpiece, The Olympic Games, is all about colours, it’s about participation but it’s also about pride, with the number of medals.
For the Nigerian athletes, the Paris Olympic Games came with excitement. They had high hopes, and Nigerians counted heavily on some of them.
The likes of Okuwatobi Amusan, Blessing Oborodudu, Favour Ofili and Enekwachi were medal hopefuls but at last they ended with nothing to show for the N29 Billion the Federal Government invested in trying to divert attention of the citizenry from the biting economic hardship in the country.
Like Tokyo 2020, like Paris
After a dismal outing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, it was expected that Nigeria would learn from her mistakes and ensure a better performance in future Olympics.
This meant administrators were to put finances, logistics, training, kits, and other things in place to ensure athletes’ success.
However, the Paris 2024 Olympics seemed to tell us the same old story, if not even worse.
Nigeria failed to win any medals at the Paris 2024 Olympics, marking its worst performance since London 2012. This was despite the participation of 88 athletes in 12 sports.
Scandals
At the just concluded Olympics, Team Nigeria faced several scandals that marred their participation.
One of the major issues was the doping scandal involving Nigerian boxer Cynthia Ogunsemilore, who was banned from competing after testing positive for the banned substance furosemide.
This incident was a significant blow to Nigeria’s hopes for a boxing medal.
Another controversy involved the exclusion of Favour Ofili from the women’s 100m race due to administrative errors by the Nigerian Athletics Federation, despite her being a top contender.
This incident led to public outcry and promises of an investigation by Sports Minister John Enoh.
Though there were last-minute attempts to register Ofili, these efforts proved to be futile.
Confusion
Additionally, there was confusion over the team’s outfits during the opening ceremony.
The Nigerian Olympic Committee (NOC) and the Ministry of Sports Development provided different attire, leading to a disjointed appearance.
This disparity was attributed to a questionable deal by the NOC with an outfit supplier without the Ministry’s consent.
Disappointment
Nigerians also expressed their disappointment in the failure of Tobi Amusan to win a medal.
Despite being the world record holder and one of Nigeria’s top medal hopes, she failed to qualify for the finals in the women’s 100m hurdles.
This was a particularly disappointing result given Amusan’s previous successes, including gold medals at the World Championships, Commonwealth Games, and African Championships.
In addition to Amusan’s disappointment, other Nigerian athletes also faced challenges. For example, the men’s 4x400m relay team was disqualified for a lane violation, and administrative issues prevented Annette Echikunwoke from competing for Nigeria, leading her to represent the United States instead, where she won a silver medal in the women’s hammer throw.
Shame
Nigerian cyclist, Ese Ukpeseraye also faced a significant setback when she discovered that the Nigerian Olympic Committee (NOC) and Cycling Federation of Nigeria (CFN) had not provided her with a bicycle or necessary kits for the competition.
This led to her borrowing a bicycle from the German team to compete in the Keirin and Sprint events. Ukpeseraye shared on social media that due to the short notice of her participation, she had no bicycle to race with, and the German team stepped in to assist her in the spirit of sportsmanship
Inadequate preparation
The Sports Minister, John Owan Enoh, attributed the poor performance to inadequate preparation.
He noted that the preparations for the Olympics started late, and many athletes had to qualify and peak within a short time frame.
The selection process for athletes and coaches was also criticized, and there were significant disagreements about the selection and preparation methodologies.
Investigation
In light of the poor performance, there have been calls for investigations into the affairs of various sports federations to understand the underlying causes of the failure.
The Sports Minister mentioned plans to evaluate the competition readiness of athletes, coaches, and administrative staff to identify and rectify the issues before future competitions.
These incidents highlight ongoing issues within Nigerian sports administration, affecting athlete performance and team morale at international competitions. Nigerians also hope Paris 2024 would serve as another avenue to learn lessons and avoid “mistakes” in the future Olympic games.