By Dr. Salau Dee Elf (NUGA Publicity Liaison Officer 1993-2001)
The Nigerian Contingent to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games have landed in Paris ready for the Games. The Games which will hold between 26th July and August 11th 2024. The Nigerian contingent include Women’s Football, Boxing, Athletics, Cycling and Badminton. Others are Canoeing, Swimming, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Weightlifting and Wrestling.
Nigeria participated in the Olympic Games for the first time in 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. It featured Nine competitors in one sport. The country has won 27 medals in 19 appearances till date.
Since featuring in 1952, Nigeria has not missed any Olympic Games except in 1976 Montreal Games when there was African boycott to protest the Apatheid regime in South Africa.
Nigeria started winning medals in the Olympic Games in the Tokyo Olympic Games with a bronze medal. It was eight years after before the Country won another bronze medal in the 1972 Games in Munich.
Though Nigeria increased the number of her competitors from 25 when it won a bronze medal in 1972 to 44 at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, it couldn’t win any medal at the Games. Four years later, Nigeria improved on her medal history with 1 Silver and 1 Bronze medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
With as many as 69 competitors at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Nigeria returned empty handed with no medal at all. The contingent was plagued with poor preparations and lack of commitment.
Nigeria’s best outing in the Olympic Games came in the Atlanta 1996 Games in United States of America. The Team Nigeria contingent won individual gold medal with Chioma Ajunwa in the Long Jump event. The Under-23 Super Eagles of Nigeria also won the gold in the Football event of the Olympics. The Women’s 4X400m relay team won a Silver medal with Falilat Ogunkoya winning bronze in the 400m while Mary Onyali won bronze in the 200m in Athletics. Duncan Dokiwari also won a bronze medal in the men’s Super-Heavyweight class in Boxing. The two Gold, one Silver and three Bronze medal haul totaling Six medals has been a tall call for Nigeria since then.
The Team Nigeria Contingent to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games has promising medal winning hopes in Athletics with Tobi Amusan in the Hurdles and the 4X100m and 4X400m relays for men and women. Garuba Quadri in the Men’s Table Tennis and others in Boxing and Weightlifting. Nigerians are united behind Team Nigeria’s efforts towards picking medals in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games
Dr Salau Dee Elf writes from Lagos at daudasalau2015@gmail.com