Olympics
Nigeria’s catastrophic results at the Olympics make headline in Europe
Not only Nigerians back home are disappointed about the results obtained by Team Nigeria at the Paris 2024 Olympics, it was also shocking to foreign observers.
One of such is reflected in a report carried by Inside The Games, an Olympic news website being run by Vox Europe Investment Holding Ltd. The story written by Claudia Saez, it runs thus:
“With no medal haul for the first time since 2012, the faltering performances of Nigeria’s contingent in Paris failed to live up to pre-Games expectations.
As in previous Olympics, it seems like an indictment of the country’s consistently inept sports administration.
With the exception of the women basketball team, D’Tigress, who qualified for their first-ever quarterfinal at the Olympic Games after a thrilling 79-70 win over Canada in their final group B match on Sunday, Team Nigeria’s wobbly performances at the ongoing Paris Games persists with the country’s athletes crashing out of 10 events they entered for.
The fact that the country did not win a single medal for the first time since London 2012 seems like evidence in the reckless exclusion of the nation’s national champion and only medal hopeful, Favour Ofili, from the women’s 100m race.
While smaller nations on the continent came home with multiple medals, the Giant of Africa left empty-handed for the first time since the 2012 London Olympics. Despite fielding continental champions like 100m hurdles record holder Tobi Amusan, Africa’s most populous nation did not live up to Olympic expectations.
A day after the Olympics closed, former and current Olympians lashed out at the country’s sporting federations calling for a shakeup in organisations they say failed their athletes. “I must apologise to our compatriots and reflect on what went wrong,” Sports Minister John Owan Enoh said on social media after Paris.
He said when he assumed the ministry less than a year before the Games, he learned that Nigeria’s Olympics preparations had not even started. “As a country, we deserve more,” he said. “Let’s turn the disastrous outcome of the 2024 Olympics to a huge positive for Nigerian sports.”
Nigeria’s best haul in the Olympics was in Atlanta in 1996 when the team won two golds, one silver and three bronzes. Beijing brought five medals in 2008, but there were zero in London four years later.
Atlanta Olympics gold medal winner in the long jump, Chioma Ajunwa, said Nigeria’s sporting federations needed a shakeup to bring in sports people who knew what they were doing. “They should stop recycling the old administrative officers that never know what they are doing,” she told Arise News channel. “It is quite disheartening that every year, Nigeria will be telling this kind of story.”
Accusations from the athletes
Olympic sprinter Favour Ofili accused officials at the Athletics Federation of Nigeria of leaving her out of the Paris 100 metres race due to administrative failures even after she qualified.
Similar accusations dogged Nigeria during the Tokyo Olympics when a group of Nigerian athletes were unable to compete because they said sporting federations did not release funds to carry out the right pre-Games tests. “I have worked for four years to earn this opportunity. For what?” Ofili wrote on X. “This is not the first time you guys are doing this so don’t think this is over because it’s not.”
Officials from the athletics federation did not respond to calls. But a senior source from Nigeria’s sporting administration told AFP officials withdrew Ofili to let her focus on the 200 metre race. “The decision to withdraw her from 100m was by AFN, but apparently this was not communicated to the athlete,” the source said.
Sports Minister Enoh said he was questioning officials about why Ofili was left out of the 100 metres race. Ofili came sixth in the 200 metres final in her Olympic debut in Paris. Hurdler Tobi Amusan came third in her heat and did not qualify for the final.
Hameed Adio, former 100 metres sprinter and Olympic team captain, said the country needed more preparation and better organisation.
“Until we consider sports as big business and treat it as such and not just a pastime and also see that those running our sports are technically sound, experienced and patriotic, the results will remain as we had at Paris 2024,” he said.
“We have to do away with the ‘fire brigade’ approach to our preparations to the Olympics.”
One bright spot for Nigeria was women’s basketball under the guidance of Rena Wakama who was recognised as Best Female Basketball Coach at the Games for the team’s “incredible run”, according to the International Basketball Federation.
They beat Canada to become the first African team to reach the quarter-finals where they lost to eventual gold medalists USA.
BY KUNLE SOLAJA, NEW YORK
Nigeria’s present and future Olympians are set to benefit from a landmark financial support programme after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that every athlete who competes at the Olympic Games will receive a grant of US$10,000 (about ₦15 million at current exchange rates) under its newly introduced “Fit for the Future Olympian Grant.”
The initiative, approved during the opening day of the IOC Session in Lausanne on June 24, marks a significant shift in Olympic policy, as it is the first time the Olympic body has introduced a universal financial benefit for all Games participants regardless of their performance or medal haul.
For Nigerian athletes, many of whom often struggle with inadequate funding before and after major international competitions, the grant is expected to provide a welcome financial cushion. The IOC said the programme would be available to every Olympian, irrespective of country or finishing position.
Chair of the IOC Athletes’ Commission, Pau Gasol, said the grant is designed to recognise the value of simply qualifying for and competing at the Olympic Games.
“All Olympians, no matter where they’re from and regardless of where they finish, will be entitled to the grant,” said the former Spanish basketball star.
Gasol stressed that the payment should not be viewed as prize money but rather as recognition of the sacrifices athletes make in representing their countries at the world’s biggest sporting event.
“It is acknowledging the importance and relevance of being an Olympian, participating and representing your sport and your country at the Games,” he explained.
The IOC has committed US$140 million to the programme during each four-year Olympic cycle.
IOC President Kirsty Coventry said the grants would not reduce the revenue shares allocated to National Olympic Committees or International Federations.
She described the US$10,000 payment as an amount capable of helping athletes launch new ventures, continue their education or serve as “seed money” for life after sport.
“The amount was considered acceptable worldwide and could help someone start something or simply provide a financial foundation,” Coventry said.
The announcement is particularly significant for Nigerian athletes, who have repeatedly raised concerns over inadequate welfare, delayed allowances and limited post-career support despite representing the country at the Olympic Games.
The grant will apply to all Olympic competitors, including professional athletes from sports such as basketball, tennis and ice hockey. However, the IOC clarified that Paralympians are not covered by the programme.
Athletes who competed at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics earlier this year will also be eligible once the application process is completed.
The initiative comes amid increasing calls for the IOC to provide direct financial rewards to competitors. The debate intensified after World Athletics became the first international sports federation to introduce Olympic prize money at the Paris 2024 Games, awarding US$50,000 to every athletics gold medallist.
Although the IOC insists the new grant is not prize money, the move is widely regarded as a historic step towards greater financial recognition for Olympians worldwide.
During the Lausanne Session, the IOC also approved amendments to the Olympic Charter, including a stronger commitment to political neutrality, while discussions continue over the future participation of Russia in the Olympic Movement.
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Nigeria’s Super Falcons will face a confident and free-scoring Comoros side in the next round of the women’s football qualifiers for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games after the island nation completed a staggering 30-0 aggregate demolition of Sudan.
Comoros sealed their passage to the next stage with a 13-0 victory in the second leg of their first-round tie, having already recorded a commanding win in the opening match. The result saw the Coelacanthes score an extraordinary 30 goals across the two legs without conceding a single goal.
The emphatic triumph has generated excitement around the rapidly improving Comoros women’s national team, but a much sterner examination now awaits against Africa’s most successful women’s football nation.
Nigeria, ten-time African champions and one of the continent’s traditional powerhouses, enter the next round as overwhelming favourites. However, Comoros’ remarkable scoring exploits against Sudan suggest they will arrive with growing confidence and belief.
The Coelacanthes dominated both encounters from start to finish, displaying clinical finishing and defensive solidity that left Sudan with no answer. Their tally of 30 goals over two matches represents an astonishing average of 15 goals per game.
For Nigeria, the fixture will mark the beginning of another quest for Olympic qualification after missing out on the women’s football tournament at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The Super Falcons, who recently impressed in their international friendly victories over Senegal in Ikenne, boast vastly greater experience and pedigree than their upcoming opponents. The nine-time Women’s Africa Cup of Nations champions have consistently been among the continent’s strongest teams and remain Africa’s highest-ranked women’s national side.
Comoros coach Youssouf Abdallah has described his team’s performances against Sudan as evidence of the progress being made within the squad, but the encounter with Nigeria will provide a true measure of their development.
While Comoros’ record-breaking victory has captured attention across African football, the challenge of overcoming Nigeria represents a significant leap in quality. The Super Falcons have traditionally dominated lower-ranked African opponents and will be expected to continue their march towards a place at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
The dates for the second-round qualifiers are expected to be confirmed by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), with the winners advancing further in the race for a place at the Olympic Games in the United States.
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By Kunle Solaja.
Nigeria’s senior women’s national team, the Super Falcons, will begin their campaign for a place at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games from the second round of the African qualifiers after being granted a bye in the opening stage.
The draw, conducted on Wednesday in Cairo by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), placed Nigeria among 29 higher-ranked teams exempted from the first round of the series.
The Super Falcons will take on the winner of the first-round clash between South Sudan and Comoros in their opening fixture of the qualifiers.
A total of 35 nations are competing for just two available slots allocated to Africa for the women’s football tournament at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, underlining the intensity and high stakes of the qualification process.
The qualifiers will be contested over five knockout rounds on a home-and-away basis, leaving little room for error as teams battle for continental representation on the global stage.
The first round involves the six lowest-ranked teams—Sudan, Mauritius, Djibouti, South Sudan, Madagascar and Comoros—based on the latest FIFA Women’s World Rankings. Winners from this stage will advance to face each other again before the 29 seeded teams, including Nigeria, enter the fray.
Nigeria will be aiming to consolidate their status among Africa’s elite women’s football nations, having qualified for the most recent Olympic tournament alongside Zambia at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Although the Super Falcons boast a notable Olympic pedigree, having made their debut at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and subsequently appearing at Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and Paris 2024, qualification has not always been easy.
The 16-year gap between their last two participations in Beijing 2008 and Paris 2024 illustrates the tough time they have endured in the qualifying series.
With the women’s football event at Los Angeles 2028 set to feature 16 teams—including hosts the United States—Nigeria’s path to qualification is expected to be demanding.
Attention will now shift to the preliminary encounter between South Sudan and Comoros, as Nigeria’s technical crew intensify preparations ahead of their second-round entry point.
For the Super Falcons, the mission is clear: successfully navigate a rigorous qualifying campaign and secure a return to the Olympic stage in 2028.
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