SPORTS
Rena Wakama, the first Nigerian female basketball coach, has been named the ‘best coach’ at this year’s Olympics after guiding D’Tigress to historical achievements in Paris.
The 32-year-old was recognised by FIBA and the Olympic organisers for leading D’Tigress to the tournament quarter-finals for the first time in its history.
Nigeria won her first basketball match in the Olympics under the former college basketball player’s tutelage.
D’Tigress opened their Olympics campaign by defeating third-ranked Australia in a major upset. The North Carolina-born coach also led her team to a shock win over fifth-ranked Canada in the final group game to seal a maiden appearance in the knockout stage.
It was the first time an African country would make the last eight of the Olympic basketball tournament — male or female.
Nigeria eventually succumbed to the United States in the quarter-finals.
In a blog post on Sunday, FIBA praised Wakama’s D’Tigress for putting up the “most impactful performance by an African team in history” at the Olympic basketball competitions.
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It also described the leadership of Wakama as one of the “main drivers of Nigeria’s unprecedented success” at the tournament.
“Nigeria made everyone sit up and take notice by beating Australia on opening day and that was the first time they had won a Group phase game,” the post reads.
“A few days later and Nigeria stunned Canada to become the first African team to take two wins at the Games, once again their tenacious defense providing the platform for success.
“Even more impressive, this secured them a ticket to the knockout phase and they became the first African team in history, men or women, to play in the Olympic Quarter-Finals.
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“Their campaign eventually came to a close when they were beaten by USA, but even then they showed their fighting spirit and qualities until the very end.”
FIBA also described Wakama as “one of the youngest coaches in Olympic history who delivered a new high tide mark for Nigeria and African basketball”.
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Born in Raleigh, North Carolina, US, she was appointed coach of the Nigerian women’s basketball team in June 2023.
In August 2023, the Wakama-led ladies defeated Senegal 84-74 in the final of the women’s Afrobasket championship.
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The victory placed Nigeria as the second African country to win the women’s Afrobasket title four times in a row.
Media
? Best coach of #Paris2024 Women's Basketball
— FIBA (@FIBA) August 11, 2024
Rene Wakama, Nigeria ?? pic.twitter.com/iAe0eh4Rso
The 2023 presidential candidate of Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi, has called on the federal government to investigate what he termed the ‘rascalities of leaders’ that always rob Nigeria golden opportunities to make a positive change.
Obi was reacting to the poor outing of Nigerian team in the ongoing Paris Olympics 2024. He complained against the attitude of Nigerian sporting authorities, noting that their gross misconducts should be checked.
According to him: “Now that the Paris Olympics 2024 has officially ended and our dear Team Nigeria, despite the huge financial investment made into the project, is returning without a single medal, let me unreservedly register my displeasure with the performance of our team and their handlers.
The rascality and recklessness that has continued to characterise leadership in our nation in nearly every department. The general impression that has come to stick is the one that portrays our country as a joke, even on the international stage.
How can one explain that a country like Jamaica spent less than 5% of what we spent on our contingents for the Paris Olympics 2024 and won as many as 6 medals. Yet with our huge financial investments and large contingent, we could not win even a single medal?
At least nine African countries won gold but the giant with over 200m people came home without even a bronze! We invested about N12 billion in this year’ s Olympics, which is almost twice the amount budgeted for the entire Ministry of Science and Technology for this year.
This is over N136 million (about $85,000) spent on each of the 88 Nigerian contingents to the Olympics, and no single medal was won while Jamaica, a nation which spent far less than we did, a total of about $2300 on each contingent, won 6 medals; 1 Gold, 3 Silver and 2 Bronze at the Olympics. We must now interrogate the relationship between this huge investment and our dismal outcome. Sad stories like this are our lot only because we have refused to embrace competence and capacity over routine and favouritism in Nigeria.
Let us consider the case of Favour Ofili, a Nigerian professional sprinter who trained for years for the 2024 Olympics, only for her name to be recklessly and wrongly removed from the list of athletes for the 100m race at the Olympics by Nigerian sporting authorities.
What explanation can anyone give about Annette Echikunwoke, a former Nigerian hammer thrower, who was frustrated by the same rascality of some Nigerian leaders, making her switch her allegiance to the United States, where she eventually won a medal in the just completed Olympics?
These same professional athletes were denied the opportunity to represent our nation in Tokyo 2020, for similar reasons of administrative recklessness. I have it on good authority that some injured athletes, not physically fit to represent the country and not competing in the ongoing Olympics, were there in Paris receiving estacodes from our national resources. Some of the sports officials and others who have no reason to be at the Olympics were there too, living large and feeding fat on the estacodes while our nation was crashing out on every sporting event. One of our athletes, Ese Ukpeseraye, had to borrow a bicycle to compete at her sporting event!
How can one sensibly explain such recklessness and infamy?
What a country! What a shame! When do we stop these rascalities that always rob our nation of golden opportunities to make a positive change? I call on the government to investigate these gross misconducts and make sure that those responsible do not have the opportunity to do so again. We must build a nation of discipline and commitment to duty, where competence and capacity reign. That is the New Nigeria we preach, and it is Possible”.
The Nigerian contingent has officially wrapped up their Paris 2024 Olympics campaign with no medals, despite the participation of 88 athletes in 12 different sports.
Team Nigeria’s performance mirrored the country’s disappointing showing at the 2012 London Olympics, where the team also failed to win a medal.
The Minister of Sports, Senator John Enoh, described the team’s performance as a “disaster” and vowed to prevent a repeat of such results in the future.
Despite Nigeria not winning any medals, athletes of Nigerian descent secured medals at the Games.
Here are five athletes of Nigerian origin who won medals at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Yemisi Ogunleye
Germany’s Yemisi Ogunleye grabbed the gold medal in the women’s shot put at the Paris Olympics on Friday, throwing her winning 20.00m with her final attempt.
With her victory, Ogunleye became the first German to win the shot put event in 28 years, since the Atlanta 1996 Olympics.
Ogunleye was born in Germany to a Nigerian father from Ekiti and a German mother.
After her win, Ogunleye acknowledged her diverse background in a video trending on social media and sang a Yoruba gospel song.
Annette Echikunwoke
Echikunwoke is the only athlete to have represented Nigeria in this list but opted to represent the United States after her disqualification at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
She missed out on competing in the hammer throw at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics because the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) failed to conduct the required drug tests for athletes.
The 28-year-old, who holds the African record in the hammer throwing event, won an Olympic silver medal in women’s hammer throw.
Commenting on the feat, Washington Post quoted her as saying, “I’m happy it’s happening now. Everything happens for a reason, even if it’s bad or good or ugly. But this is beautiful.”
Samu Omorodion
Born in Melilia, Spain, to Nigerian parents, the 20-year-old forward is set to sign for Premier League side, Chelsea, from Atletico Madrid, according to football transfer expert Fabrizio Romano.
Omorodion was part of the Spanish side that defeated host, France, 5-3 in extra time to win Olympic gold in men’s football.
He scored just once in the competition, in a 2-1 loss to Egypt in the group stage.
Salwa Eid Naser
The Nigerian-born sprinter won silver for Bahrain in the 400m women’s event at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
She crossed the finish line in 48.53 seconds, trailing Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic, who set a new Olympic record with a time of 48.17 seconds.
The 26-year-old formerly known as Ebelechukwu Agbapuonwu was born in Onitsha, Anambra.
Michael Olise
Bayern Munich’s new signing Olise was part of the French team that won silver in men’s football.
Olise was born in England to a Nigerian father and a French-Algerian mother.
His younger brother, Richard, plays for Chelsea FC in England.
[Vanguard]
Sports Minister, John Enoh, Calls Nigeria’s 2024 Olympics Performance ‘Disaster’
Team Nigeria ended their participation in the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France, without securing any medals for the country.
The last remaining athlete representing Nigeria, Hannah Reuben, aimed to clinch a medal for the West African Country in the women’s freestyle wrestling 76kg category.
Unfortunately, she was defeated in her second-round fight, losing 5-2 (by points) to Mongolia’s Davaanasan Amar Enkh.
The disappointment came from Tobi Amusan’s inability to advance to the final of the women’s 100m hurdles.
Furthermore, Nigeria’s 4x400m men’s relay team faced disqualification following their semi-final race. This unfortunate outcome marked Nigeria’s poorest performance at the Olympics since the 2012 London Games.
Looking ahead, the next Olympics are scheduled to take place in Los Angeles in 2028 which means that the sports ministry in Nigeria has at most four years to prepare for another game.
Sports Minister, John Enoh, Calls Nigeria’s 2024 Olympics Performance ‘Disaster’
The Minister of Sports Development, John Enoh, has expressed his disappointment with Team Nigeria’s performance at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
In a statement posted on his X page earlier today, August 10, John Enoh emphasized that the failure to secure any medals reflects underlying issues that require immediate attention.
He highlighted the need for careful consideration in the upcoming sports federation elections to ensure that the most qualified individuals are elected to lead the various sports federations.
John Enoh wrote, “Yesterday, I met with gentlemen of the press at the Nigerian Embassy in Paris for a press briefing following the country’s participation in the 2024 Olympics. As we go back home, we must do everything to prevent future occurrences of the Paris disaster and if this will entail the review of how people are elected to lead our sporting federations, it will be done.
“The elections for the federations are around the corner, and it will be the perfect platform to get only those who are most eligible to lead the various sports federations.
“Team Nigeria’s disappointing performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where the country did not secure any medals does not entail being addressed just by our participation at the Olympics, but it is a product of very many other things that need immediate attention.”
Despite assertions that the ministry adequately supported the athletes both financially and otherwise, Senator Enoh underscored the importance of addressing systemic issues beyond just participation in the Olympics.
“We did everything as a ministry to prepare the athletes adequately and provide them with every financial support, but unfortunately, the performance did not produce any podium finish,” he said.
Looking ahead to the federation elections, he emphasized the need for rigorous scrutiny of the candidates to elevate the standards of leadership within Nigeria’s sports federations.
He wrote: “I am aware that the sports federations elections in Nigeria are even tougher than our national elections. We must set our standards to scrutinize what motivates those vying to run the federations and get only the best hands.
“This call for reform aims to enhance the leadership and effectiveness of Nigeria’s sports federations, paving the way for improved performance on the global stage.”
Top 20 countries of the 2024 Paris Olympics medals table
As of 2:50 p.m. (Nigerian Time), China are sitting at the top of the medals table with a total of 84 medals, which comprises 34 gold, 27 silver, and 23 bronze.
Even though the United States have more medals (113) than China, they are second because they have one gold less than the Asian giants.
Below are the top 20:
Format: Country, Gold, Silver, Bronze, total number of medals
1. China – 34 | 27 | 23 = 84
2. United States – 33 | 41 | 39 = 113
3. Australia – 18 | 16 | 14 = 48
4. Japan – 16 | 8 | 13 = 37
5. France – 15 | 20 | 22 = 57
6. Great Britain – 14 |20 | 23 = 57
7. Korea – 13 8 8 29
8. Netherlands – 13 6 11 30
9. Germany – 12 9 8 29
10. Italy – 11 12 13 36
11. Canada – 8 6 11 25
12. New Zealand – 7 7 2 16
13. Hungary – 5 7 6 18
14. Uzbekistan – 5 1 3 9
15. Spain – 4 3 8 15
16. Ireland – 4 0 3 7
17. Brazil – 3 6 9 18
18. Ukraine – 3 4 4 11
19. Sweden – 3 4 3 10
20. Romania – 3 4 1 8
Note that the 2024 Olympics will officially come to an end on Sunday, August 11.
I am writing this on Friday morning to meet production deadline.
Truth be told, as we approach the finish line of Paris 2024, Nigeria’s name is nowhere near the top of the final medals table. Of course, Nigeria is not a sports superpower.
After the Olympics, Team Nigeria are unlikely to be scored high, in the absence of a last-minute haul of medals to show.
I still hope that Wrestling and Tobi Amusan(unfortunately, Amusan failed to qualify for final) and any one of the three female jumpers(all three failed as well) underlining the natural ability of Nigerians in the sport, will bring back home the few medals Nigeria deserves from the games.
As usual and before every Olympics, expectation of Nigerians soars to the heavens, an unrealistic exercise based on unearned achievements. The country has surely not invested enough in what are required to become consistent winners of medals at the Olympic Games. Always, the country seeks to harvest from what it never plants.
A close look at the results of the few events Nigeria participated in reveals Nigeria’s huge potentials. To extend that and expect a haul of medals would not do justice to sports and to what is required in order to become champions.
Having said that, Nigeria’s very impressive performances in some specific sports events, must be acknowledged. They confirm the Olympic Movement’s fundamental philosophy that all participants are ‘winners’, and that ‘you do not have to be First to be a winner’.
To be one of the 11,000 athletes that represent the best in the global human population of over 8 Billion people is no mean feat. Olympians are special. They are gods and must be celebrated, Gold or not.
To compete and to leave a good impression in the minds of the global audience of sports’ followers is hard enough. That’s why, sometimes, even a good ‘fight’ is considered as good as Gold, a reward for total commitment and effort!
Such is the case of Team Nigeria 2024, in my humble opinion, far from the unproductive outcry that will come in the aftermath of Paris 2024, unless, of course, if Tobi Amusan pulls out the rabbit from the hat and wins a Gold medal, and soothes the pain of Nigerians up till now. Alas that remains a dream.
As the sprints relays and wrestling events start, there is some hope that a few medals may still come Nigeria’s way to improve the country’s standing on the final table which does not look impressive presently despite some performances that must be considered as good as Gold. Top of that list is the performance of D’Tigress, the female national basketball team. The team has put up a great display in all their matches, showing the clear possibility of basketball also becoming one of Nigeria’s greatest strengths at the Olympics, next to the sprints and long jump events in athletics.
That three girls are representing Nigeria in the finals of the long jump clearly underlines Nigeria’s strength in the event, validating Chioma Ajunwa’s 1996 Gold medal victory. This is an event that Nigeria
What applies to the long jump event also applies to the short sprints, the relays and the 100m hurdles. These events appear to come naturally to Nigerians.
Nigeria’s wrestlers have also been consistent. Blessing Oborodudu, who missed out on the medal podium by whiskers, must be commended for effort. One or two other wrestlers have just started their competitions at the time I am writing this. They may go far and even win medals.
What must be acknowledged at the end of Paris 2024 is that Nigeria’s performances clearly show that if and when the processes of discovering talented athletes and providing them with the necessary development tools and processes are honed properly, Nigeria will surely become a global force in certain sports.
That is the greatest lesson that I take away. Nigeria must invest more in institutionalised sports development, and strategically pay special attention to some specific sports for which the environment may be a natural breeding ground.
Team Nigeria have done as well as the investment on them. To achieve more would be unrealistic expectation. You do not plant coco-yam and expect a harvest of yam.
Qualifying for the Olympics is difficult. It is a long, hard and torturous journey. To win a medal is the most difficult journey for any athlete. That’s why, the Olympic Games were conceived in the spirit that at the Games there are no ‘losers’, every athlete that participates is a ‘winner’ and goes home with a replica Medal.
In Paris 2024, Nigeria participated in only a few sports. The athletes put up creditable performances but are mostly not enough to win medals this time around. Winning a medal at the Olympics is a Marathon race, not a sprints event.
I hope Nigeria will aim to invest in the development of a proper production line for elite athletes and sports development. It is only then that Nigerians can realistically start to expect a haul of medals at the Olympics.
For now, I commend Team Nigeria. They did well. They remind us that Nigeria is at the periphery….. of greatness, just ahead, in sports.
Nigeria winger, Samuel Chukwueze has revealed the reason behind his decision to snub a move to Saudi Arabia last summer.
Chukwueze was approached by a number of clubs in the Asian country after the end of the 2022/23 season.
The 25-year-old however decided against accepting the tempting offer despite plea fron his manager.
Instead, the talented winger joined Serie A giants, AC Milan ending his five-year stay with LaLiga club, Villarreal.
“If money were a problem, I would have signed in Saudi Arabia. They wanted me a year ago,” the 25-year-old was quoted by Football Italia.
” My mind was set only on Milan. My agent told me, ‘Hey, look, there’s this money…’ But I said no: ‘I don’t want to go anywhere else.’
“So he gave up. If that money comes, it comes. The most important thing now is to believe in myself; I’m still young, I want to make it, I need to stay in Europe.”
Chukwueze scored once in 24 league appearances for AC Milan last season.
The Nigerian men’s 4x400m relay team has been disqualified from competing in the final of the event at the 2024 Olympics.
After the Nigerian women’s 4x400m relay team crashed out of the event on Thursday, most sports enthusiasts in Nigeria were expecting the men’s team to earn Nigeria its first 2024 Paris Olympics medal.
Recall that the men’s relay team, which comprised Emmanuel Ojeli, Ezekiel Nathanial, Dubem Amene, and Chidi Okezie, initially secured a spot in the final after finishing second in their heat behind France, achieving a season’s best time of 2:59.81.
However, their hopes were dashed when they were disqualified for stepping on the line during their heat. Reports claimed that South African athletes were the ones that made the official complaint, which was looked into and sanctioned against Nigeria by the Olympic committee.
As a result of their disqualification, Belgium has moved up to second position, and South Africa has stepped up to third position.
This outcome is a disappointment for the Nigerian team, who had aspired to replicate the success of the 2000 and 2004 teams that won gold and bronze in Sydney and Athens respectively.
The development happened before Nigeria’s best prospect for a 2024 Olympics medal, Tobi Amusan failed to qualify for the final of the 100m hurdles earlier today. Hence, Team Nigeria are still without a medal with less than two days to the end of the tournament.
The athlete who has sustained Nigeria’s aspirations for a medal in the current Paris Olympic Games, Tobi Amusan, has crashed out of the tournament.
Amusan finished third in the semi-finals of the women’s 100m hurdles.
The 27-year-old competed in lane six during the first heat of the event on Friday.
The reigning world champion and world record holder finished behind Alayasha Johnson from the United States, who clocked a time of 12.39 seconds, and Devynne Charlton from the Bahamas, who recorded 12.50 seconds.
Amusan’s time of 12.55 seconds was insufficient to qualify her for the finals.
This achievement comes amid Nigeria’s disappointing performance in the games, where Nigerian athletes have yet to secure a medal as the Olympics approach their conclusion on Sunday.
On Tuesday, former Super Eagles Coach Adegboye Onigbinde criticized Nigeria’s performance, attributing it to inadequate sports administration in the country.
The veteran technical sports director said: “You see, why Nigerian athletes are not performing well in the ongoing Olympics and other international sports competitions is not technical, but administrative. Is it technical that an athlete who qualified properly in her event will be ridiculed by not registering her for participation?
“Situations like this will continue if our administrators don’t separate politics from sports.”
He stressed that most of the administrators have forgotten the core objective of developmental programmes in sports which had earned the country some measure of success in the past.
Former president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Issa Hayatou, has passed away at the age of 77.
The football administrator, who was a key figure in African football for decades, died in Paris on Thursday, August 8, 2024, a day before his 78th birthday.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino described the late Hayatou as a ‘passionate sports fan” in a post on Instagram on Thursday evening.
He wrote: “Saddened to hear of the passing of former Caf president, former Fifa president ad interim, Fifa vice president, and Fifa council member, Issa Hayatou.”
“A passionate sports fan, he dedicated his life to sports administration.
“On behalf of Fifa, condolences go to his family, friends, former colleagues and all who knew him. Rest in peace.”
Hayatou was in charge of African football from 1988 to 2017 and served as interim FIFA President from 2015 to 2016 when Joseph Sepp Blatter was suspended amidst a corruption scandal.
It was also under his tenure that South Africa hosted the World Cup in 2010, becoming the first-ever African nation to host the tournament.
Sevilla forward, Kelechi Iheanacho has sent a heartfelt farewell message to Leicester City fans following his departure from the club after seven years.
The Nigeria international departed the King Power Stadium in June after his contract ended.
Last week, Iheanacho joined LaLiga side Sevilla, signing a two-year deal with an additional one-year option.
The 27-year-old took to social media to express his gratitude to the fans and club owners for the unforgettable memories during his time at Leicester City.
“Thank you for the 7 years we shared, I’ll forever cherish our 2021 FA Cup win. Thanks to the owners who brought me to the club, all of my teammates in those years and the amazing foxes fans!! All the best for the new season ,” he wrote on X.
Iheanacho joined Leicester City from Manchester City in 2017.
He scored 36 goals in 173 league appearances for the Foxes.
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- Nigeria lose 74-88 to USA
The D’Tigress bowed out of the Paris 2024 Women’s Basketball event but not without a fight as they lost a closely fought encounter 74-88 to Team USA.
The coach Rena Wakama-led side only on Sunday became the first African side – male or female – to reach the quarter-finals of an Olympic Games after beating Canada in their final group game.
Last night, the Americans raced in front in the first quarter with 26 to 19 points and followed up with an identical 26 points as against the D’Tigress 16 in a pulsating gritty encounter in the second quarter.
Ezinne Kanu and Murijanatu Musa proved pivotal to Nigeria’s aspirations yet the D’Tigress were back on the back foot in the third quarter losing 15-24.
Remarkably, the D’Tigress showed their strength in depth in the last quarter with an amazing 26 points as against America’s 12.
But it was a case of too little, too late as the Americans won the encounter 88-74.
Defeat notwithstanding, the D’Tigress can be proud of their achievement at this Paris 2024 Olympics as they earned huge salutation for their gusty performance against the Americans who progressed to the semi-finals.
Football transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has confidently stated that Victor Osimhen will not take a pay cut to facilitate his move to Chelsea, The PUNCH reports.
The Italian hinted that Chelsea’s pursuit of the Napoli striker could allegedly ‘go down to the final week of the transfer window’.
The Blues are in dire need of a striker capable of guaranteeing them goals, and with less than two weeks until the start of the new Premier League season, they have intensified their search.
Chelsea are reportedly closing in on a deal for Atletico Madrid attacker Samu Omorodion, but the London club are also heavily being linked with Osimhen, with the Super Eagles forward said to be ranking prominently on their wish list to lead their line during the 2024/25 campaign.The Nigeria international has emerged as one of the most sought-after strikers in Europe, having been linked with moves to Chelsea, Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United, and Liverpool, among others.
However, his hefty €130m release clause has scared off many suitors, with PSG the only European club still keen on signing him.
There has been talk of a potential swap deal involving Romelu Lukaku, as Chelsea are unlikely to be in a position to activate the £113m release clause in his Napoli contract.
Osimhen is Serie A’s highest earner at around £325,000 a week. He signed a new contract with Napoli in the latter stages of last year, but he is expected to leave the club before the transfer window closes.According to Romano, Osimhen is not willing to accept a pay cut to move to Stamford Bridge, and a potential transfer for the Nigerian could ‘go down to the final week of the window’.
“Forget about Victor Osimhen taking a pay cut; he won’t reduce his salary. This will be a deal I think will go down to the final week of the window,” Football Transfers quotes Romano on their website.
Osimhen joined Napoli from Lille in the 2020 summer for a club record fee of €70m plus another €10m in bonuses.
The 25-year-old has been in top form for the Parthenopeans for the past two seasons, guiding them to their first Scudetto in over three decades in the 2022/23 season, scoring 26 league goals, which earned him the top scorer award.
Team Nigeria faced a setback in their pursuit of a medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on Tuesday as two medal prospects failed to live up to the expectation.
Favour Ofili’s performance in the women’s 200m final and Blessing Oborududu’s loss in the bronze medal match of the women’s 68kg freestyle wrestling left Team Nigeria without a medal four days to the end of the tournament.
In the women’s 200m final, Ofili finished sixth with a time of 22.24s, as USA’s Gabby Thomas clinched the gold with a time of 21.83s. Julie Alfred secured second place with a time of 22.08s, while Brittany Brown claimed the third spot with a time of 22.20s.
Despite running a new season’s best of 22.05s in the event and making it to the final, Ofili was unable to secure a medal.
On the other hand, Blessing Oborududu lost 3-0 in the bronze medal match of the women’s 68kg freestyle wrestling to Japan’s Nonoka Ozaki. This came after her narrow 3-1 defeat to Kyrgyzstan’s Meerim Zhumanazarova in the semi-finals the previous night.
With the disappointment in these events, Team Nigeria’s hopes now hinge on women’s 100m hurdles record holder, Tobi Amusan, who qualified for the semi-finals of the event earlier today, August 7, 2024.
The team is also looking to other athletes competing in athletics, weightlifting, and wrestling to secure medals for the country as the 2024 Olympics ends on August 11.
Tobi Amusan has made Nigerians proud again as she qualified for the 100-meter hurdles semi-finals in the ongoing 2024 Olympics in Paris on Wednesday.
Naija News understands that the track and field athlete specialises in the 100-metre hurdles
Amusan, the reigning world record holder, outpaced the USA’s Alaysha Johnson, who finished second with a time of 12.61 seconds, and Janeek Brown, who clocked in at 12.84 seconds in Heat 1.
This performance positions Amusan as the second-fastest qualifier overall, trailing only the defending Olympic champion, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn from Puerto Rico.
It is noteworthy that Nigeria has not yet secured a medal in this year’s Olympic Games.
Naija News reports that the semi-finals are scheduled to take place on Friday, August 9, with the final event planned for the second-to-last day of the athletics competition, Saturday, August 10.
The 27-year-old athlete has demonstrated exceptional performance leading up to the sporting event, achieving a season-best and world-leading time of 12.40 seconds (0.9) at the Jamaican Athletics Invitational held in Kingston in May.
Prior to this, she established the indoor record for the African 60m hurdles on two occasions in January and February.
In March, she secured her third consecutive title at the African Games in Ghana, while also contributing to the women’s 4x100m relay team that won gold in Accra, in addition to her victory at the African Championships in Cameroon three months later.
Throughout this season, Amusan has participated in 17 competitions, which encompass the 60m, 100m, 100m hurdles, and the 4x100m relay.
Amusan, a three-time consecutive Diamond League champion, two-time Commonwealth Games gold medalist, two-time African champion, and three-time African Games gold medalist, has represented her country in two Olympic Games (Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020)