Nigeria returns from Paris Olympics empty handed

Team Nigeria ended its campaign at the XXXIII Olympic Games on Saturday with no medal to show for efforts

Before ending its participation a day before the closing ceremony, Nigeria’s athletes had participated in 12 sports.

These were in athletics (35), badminton (1), basketball (13), boxing (2), canoeing (2), cycling (1), football (22), swimming (2), table tennis (4), taekwondo (1), weightlifting (2) and wrestling (6).

Following its first outing through the Super Falcons in Bordeaux in women football on July 25, Team Nigeria had gone from one misadventure to another in virtually all the events.

There was, however a mild exception in women’s basketball, where  D’Tigress, reached the quarter-finals, a feat no African team has ever achieved.

Team Nigeria nevertheless was sleeping at almost all the Games.

A couple of wins were indeed recorded in athletics, wrestling and basketball, but they were not just good enough to take Team Nigeria near the podium.

The Minister of Sports Development, John Enoh, acknowledged on Friday that it was a disappointing outing for Nigeria.

“It was indeed a performance not worthy of our name and the efforts put in,” he said.

Enoh noted that Team Nigeria’s performance not only disappointed Nigerians, but also did no justice to the commitment of President Bola Tinubu’s administration to sports development.