Paris 2024: Nigeria Ends Olympic Campaign Without Any Medal

The 19th Olympic Games for Nigeria were a complete failure. Despite widespread hopes to the contrary, the country failed to bring home a medal in Paris 2024. The 16-day medal race concluded on Sunday.

Everyone expected Team Nigeria to step it up after their silver and bronze medals in the last Tokyo Olympics. Still, they failed miserably in every respect, even though the National Olympic Committee had requested and received a whopping N9 billion in funding from the federal government.

Nigeria sent 88 athletes across 12 sports, but all took home medals. This was the worst Olympic performance by Nigerian sports since London 2012, when Tobi Amusan, Blessing Oborududu, Favour Ofili, Ese Brume, and Quadri Aruna failed to earn the recognition they deserved.

Controversies hampered Nigeria's effort, as with almost any foreign venture. Despite Ofili qualifying for the women's 100-meter race, her name was mysteriously left off the list. As a result of the Athletes Federation of Nigeria and the National Olympic Committee supplying the athletes with different kits, the long-running kitting conflict surfaced.

Hannah Reuben was the last remaining athlete hoping to bring home a medal for her nation after Amusan's elimination. Still, on Saturday, she was defeated 5-2 (by points) in the second round of the women's freestyle wrestling 76 kg event by Mongolia's Davaanasan Amar Enkh.

Among the few bright spots for Nigerian fans throughout the Olympics, D'Tigress stood out when Rena Wakama's women's basketball team defied all expectations to advance to the quarterfinals, making history as the first African team to do so.

Their excellent play strengthened the case for a coach's ability to choose players objectively based on their tactical and technical understanding.

Although they lost 88-74 to the United States, the only team to put the defending champions on the back foot in a long time, Wakama had her troops outplay them entirely in the fourth quarter, ending their voyage on a high note.

Being a patriotic Nigerian and believing that leading the squad is more than just a profession, Wakama's contagious love for the game is the foundation of the impactful performance.

I'm overjoyed. I am glad that we accomplished this in only one year. This is just the first step. This is my home; I am Nigerian. "I wanted to take the job because I wanted to inspire and build where I'm from," the record-setting coach added. 

Meanwhile, Team Nigeria has been in a state of mourning, with athletes and officials covering their faces in shame. The Minister of Sports Development, John Enoh, furious over the disaster, is threatening to remove officials from the different sports federations who lack the vision to achieve greatness.

Elections to the federations are approaching, and this will be an excellent opportunity to promote just the most qualified candidates to head up the different sports. Dissatisfied that Nigeria finished second in the multi-sport tournament, Enoh expressed his knowledge that the elections for the Nigerian sports federation are more complex than the national elections in his own country. "You will begin to ask yourself why it is so," he said.

In the wake of the controversy and failure in Paris, the interim president of the Nigeria Boxing Federation, Azania Omo-Agege, has urged the minister to investigate the federation's operations.

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