Can Nigerian Athletes Still Pull the Strings in Paris?

The 2024 Olympic Games officially kicked off yesterday in Paris, and like every other sporting competition Nigeria participates in,, shabby preparation is always the order of the day and as usual, Nigerians would be banking in the grits and determination of individual athletes for medals of any shape. Kunle Adewale takes a look at some of the athletes that could do the unthinkable in spite of the ill preparedness of the country   

With a record 10,714 athletes from 206 countries-the highest in the history of the Olympics,, athletes have begun to jostle for medals in a 21-day stiff competition. Nigeria, of course, would not be left out of the haul for medals as Team Nigeria would be represented by 88 ill-prepared athletes-62 women and 26 men in 12 sports.

The much-anticipated Paris Olympic Games officially got underway yesterday, as the opening ceremony took place on the legendary Seine River, which flows through the French capital and into the English Channel, making it the first time in history that the Games’ opening ceremony would be taking place outside a stadium. A setup which allows athletes, fans and indeed everyone to walk up to the river and view the display, while each national committee will have a boat that floats across the nearly four-mile route, beginning at the Austerlitz Bridge and reaching their finish at the Trocadéro, across from the Eiffel Tower, home to the Trocadéro Palace.

Like every sporting competition Nigeria has participated in, preparing the athletes well has always been an issue and the 2025 Olympic Games is no different.

In a chat with THISDAY, former Nigeria Olympics gold and bronze medalist, Enofiok Udo-Obon ahead of the this year’s summer Olympics in Paris, he admitted that Nigeria was not prepared for the sports biggest showpiece.

“The truth is that we’re not prepared for the Olympics. Preparation is not about how much are we giving the athletes over time but how long have we put the athletes together. Are we trying to prepare? Yes, we are, but its probably a little too late. Our preparation should have been over a four-year circle and getting ready in the last two-years. Even, there were lots of controversies over the team list, which shows that we’re not totally ready for it.

“However, we still have a lot of hope to win medals because of some of our established athletes in Tobi Amusan, Ese Brume and the likes, who a getting closer to winning time. We have hope in javelin and discuss women and also one or two relays. We can have hope. But are we prepared, the answer is no. Is it something that we deserve? I really don’t think so.

“At, best we can win three medals.  I don’t know the colour or the shape but not more than three. If we have to be very sincere with ourselves, we have to make our expectations consciously,” he said.

“We have a young team, a good side and anything else we get from the Games is going to be a bonus. We are going to try, we are going to compete, but we should not be putting pressure on them because our preparation and selection process was not very smooth,” Enefiok expressed.

Indeed, it was less than two weeks to the Games that the Minister of Sports Development, John Owan-Enoh, announced federal government’s approval of N12 billion in budget for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

According to Owan-Enoh, all hands are on deck to ensure that the approved funds are released to the athletes as soon as possible.

He said, “We have a budget of over N12 billion, which has been approved by the federal government.

”The budget is divided into two parts: N9 billion for the Olympics, while over N3 billion has been earmarked for the Paralympics.

“There are various provisions for the athletes and their welfare in the budget, and before the team leaves for Paris, I am going to have the opportunity of visiting them.”

As if medals are won at the Olympics by mere wishes as against serious preparation, the minister said his target was to ensure that the team surpassed the achievements of the 1996 Olympic Games, which remains the best outing of Team Nigeria to date, in which the country won six medals in total.

Chioma Ajunwa won gold in the Long Jump, while the U23 male football team also beat Argentina to the gold medal. The quartet of Falilat Ogunkoya, Bisi Afolabi, Fatima Yusuf and Charity Opara won silver in the 4×100 metres relay.

Ogunkoya also won a bronze medal in the women’s 400-meter race, while Mary Onyali won a bronze medal in the women’s 200 meters.

 Also, Duncan Dokiwari earned a third-place finish in the men’s Super-Heavyweight boxing event.