Nigeria has ended the 2024 Paris Olympics without a medal. Hannah Reuben lost her Women’s Freestyle 76kg fight early Saturday to effectively put the country’s slim hope of making the podium to rest. She lost 5-2 to Mongolia’s Enkh-Amaryn Davaanasan in the round of 16 tie, capping off a woeful showing for the West African nation.
Team Nigeria went to the Olympics on the back of some great performances in qualifying events. The country registered for 12 events, but sadly – like previous Games – failed to translate its continental dominance at the Olympics.
A series of heartbreaking losses and some administrative lapses have seen Nigeria return home without a medal. The last time that happened was at the London Games in 2012.
Nigeria’s poor showing in Paris was replicated in 1952 Helsinki, 1956 Melbourne, 1960 Rome, 1968 Mexico, 1980 Moscow, and 1988 Seoul where the country won no medal.
President Bola Tinubu had approved N12 billion for the country’s outing at the Olympics and the Paralympics. N9bn was earmarked for the former while N 3bn was budgeted for the latter.
Going into the Games, Team Nigeria had banked on tracks and field events, one of the country’s dominant areas, to rake in the medals.
Favour Ofili had made history as the first Nigerian since Atlanta 1996 to reach the semi-final of the 200m. Despite her season’s best of 22.05 seconds in the semi-finals, she could not make a podium finish.
In the 200m, Udodi Chudi Onwuzurike reached the semi-final while his compatriot Ezekiel Nathaniel also fell short in the 400m hurdles in the same stage.
Nigeria’s joy in the 4x400m men’s event was cut short after they were disqualified from the race for a violation of the rules. The quartet of Emmanuel Ojeli, Ezekiel Nathaniel, Dubem Amene, and Chidi Okezie finished heat 2 with a Season’s Best time of 2 minutes 59.81 seconds.
However, one of the Nigerians was said to have crossed lanes leading to the tripping of a South African athlete. The West African nation’s spot was thereafter given to South Africa.
