The 2024 Olympics has been unfavourable for Nigerians as they currently hold no medal in any sporting activities. Nigerians had been hopeful for the track and field events which had been the major event that Nigeria athletes participates in.
Favour Ofili, a promising young athlete who qualified for the final 200m race finished 6th place with a time of 22.24s. USA’s Gabby Thomas clinches gold with a time of 21.83s. The new women’s 100m champion Julie Alfred came in second in 22.08s, with another American, Brittany Brown, completing the podium with a time of 22.20s.
Ofili, 21, is the first Nigerian woman to qualify for the final of the 200m at the Olympics in 28 years after Mary Onyali did at the Atlanta 1996 Games, where she won a bronze medal.
She had earlier complained of not been entered for the 100m race, an omission she blamed on the Athletes Federation of Nigeria. Her participation in the final was a proud moment for Nigerians even though we didn’t win a medal.
At the Champ de Mars arena, Oborududu lost 3-0 in the bronze medal match of the women’s 68 kg freestyle wrestling to Japan’s Nonoka Ozaki. Oborududu, who won a silver medal at the Tokyo 2020 Games, had suffered a narrow 3-1 defeat to Kyrgyzstan’s Meerim Zhumanazarova in the semi-finals on Monday night.
The lack of athletes to participate in the total 32 sports at the Olympics majorly contributes to the lack of medals for the country this year. The ministry of sports development needs to encourage more Nigerians to try out for the other categories. Resources should also be made available to help train the willing athletes.
Nigeria now depends on Tobi Amusan who has qualified for the 100-metre hurdle semi-final in Paris. The world record owner qualified on Wednesday, completing at a time of 12.49 seconds.
