Nigeria has the ingredients to compete with the very best Countries in the world at the Olympics but we have always underperformed or failed to win medals.
Why are we surprised? What were our realistic expectations? Did we prepare for the games? Have we ever prepared for the Olympics? What sporting codes are we really good at?
This is a long read but stay with me.
Let me breakdown Nigeria's Olympic journey from Helsinki 1952 to date, then see if anything changed.
We didn't win any medals at the Paris 2024 games and I see many people express disappointment like it's a new thing or we have done better before.
We didn't win any medals in 8 out of the 18 Olympic games we have attended since Helsinki 1952
- Helsinki 1952
- Melbourne 1956
- Rome 1960
- Mexico 1968
- Moscow 1980
- Seoul 1988
- London 2012
- Paris 2024
However, we have won some medals in Some of the past games but only just, and here they are:
Tokyo 1964
1 Bronze - Nojeem Maiyegun (Boxing)
Munich 1972:
1 Bronze - Isaac Ikhuoria (Boxing)
Los Angeles 1984-
1 Silver - Peter Konyegwachie (Boxing)
1 Bronze - 4x400 Relays - Men (Athletics)
Barcelona 1992:
3 Silver - David Izonrite and Richard Igbinegbu (both Boxing) 4x400 m Relays Men (Athletics)
1 Bronze - 4x100 m Relays Women( Athletics)
Atlanta 1996
2 Gold Football Men and Chioma Ajunwa - Long Jump (Athletics)
1 silver
3 Bronze - Duncan Dokiwari (Boxing) Mary Onyali - 200m Women and Falilat Ogunkoya - 400m Women ( Both Athletics)
Sydney 2000:
1 Gold 4x400m Relays Men
2 silver Gloria Alozie 100m Hurdles Women (Athletics)
Athens 2004:
2 Bronze - 4x400 m Relays Men and 4x100m Relays Women(Athletics)
Beijing 2008:
3 silver Football Men, Okagbare Long Jump Women(Athletics) 4x100m Women (Athletics)
2 Bronze - Chike Chukwumerije (Taekwando) Mariam Usman (Weightlifting)
Rio 2016
1 Bronze - Football Men
7. Tokyo 2020:
1 Silver - Blessing Oborududu (Wrestling)
1 Bronze - Ese Brume Long Jump Women (Athletics)
Summary of medals:
3 Gold
8 silver
13 Bronze
If We are to examine the disciplines where we won medals, you will find that there are certain sporting codes where we have consistently shown good performances even coming close.
We need to focus on our strengths and the areas of comparative advantage and the information below makes this clear.
Football:
1 Gold
1 silver
1 Bronze
We can compete for football every Olympic circles because it's our number one sport, but we have been sloppy with our preparations and all three medals we have won have been with plenty drama.
Boxing:
3 silver
3 Bronze
Our medals in boxing have been over a 60 year period with Nojeem Maiyegun winning Bronze in 1964, and Isaac Ikhuoria with Bronze in 1972...
Ikhuoria was our Coach in 1984 where Peter Konyekwachie won Silver in Los Angeles.
David Izonritie and Richard Igbinegbu won Silver in Barcelona 1992, and Duncan Dokiwari won Bronze at Atlanta 1996.
We haven't won any boxing medals since 1996 and we know that we have the big Boys and Girls waiting for us to build Boxing Gyms in all 36 states
We should invest heavily in boxing
Athletics:
2 Gold
8 silver
13 Bronze
Nigeria has produced the fastest Athletes in Africa for over 50 years, with our Athletes making the Olympic finals in events like 100m, 200m, and 400m, as well as the 4x100m and 4x400m relays for men and women, and often challenging the USA, Jamaica, Canada, Great Britain
Nowadays, you find, Botswana, South Africa, Cote d'Ivoire, and even Kenya have Athletes challenging for medals
We have won Long Jump Gold, Silver and Bronze medals in Women's Long Jump with Chioma Ajunwa's gold at Atlanta 96, Blessing Okagbare's Silver at Beijing 2008, and Ese Brume's Bronze at Tokyo 2020, and we had 3 Nigerian Women in the finals in Paris 2024, and they all bombed.
We need to massively invest in Athletics because we have the talent running in traffic, chasing cattle and hustling everywhere.
Wrestling:
1 silver
Wrestling is one discipline that we have cultural advantage as we have traditional versions all over Nigeria, and should be tops.
We are blessed with a President Igali who is an Olympic Gold medalist for Canada, and he is leading a Renaissance.
Can we not invest in Wrestling?
Weightlifting:
1 Bronze
We have one medal in weightlifting but we have so many talented Athletes in this sport, and back in the days , the likes of Iron Bar Bassey, Oliver Orok show that in many of the South-South and South Eastern states, we will find them raw.
Taekwando:
1 Bronze
The only medal in Taekwando came from Chike Chukwumerije whose family is made up of 6 Blackbelts including his renowned late Father, Uche Chukwumerije who was a politician.
Where else:
Basketball
Flag Football
Swimming
We have produced some of the most talented Basketball Players in the history of the game and whether it's at home in Nigeria or the children of the Nigeria Diaspora, we should be winning medals in Basketball every Olympic circle.
You only need to check how many Nigeria Diaspora players win medals over the last games and even here in Paris, the USA had Bam Adebayo and Australia Women had Ezi Magbegor. Canada had
D'Tigress showed that with a little bit more deliberate investment, they could have won a medal in Paris.
We need to pump money into Basketball and we will win medals in Los Angeles 2028, Brisbane 2032 and into the future.
We will see Flag Football in the Olympics at Los Angeles 2028, and it is an offshoot of American Football, a sport where there is more Nigerians than Basketball with so many Super Bowl winners. We need to make sure we have a team to win medals.
Swimming is one where we have a great deal of good swimmers in all the many rivers and the sea around Nigeria.
Employ more coaches and build capacity for 8-12 years.
I can go on and on but just remember, winning at the Olympics is not about the 3 months camping we do before the games, it is a long game.
We must start preparing for the Olympics of 2028, 2032 and 2036 at the earliest, and include 2040, and 2044, and how we identify the Athletes, Coaches and officials to deliver on the long term plan.
We must develop and craft a 20-25 years plan if we are going to win, and it must include school and community programs, invest in Coach education that is data driven.
Sports Development and training is no more about trial and error. We need to keep a data of the performances of every athlete in Nigeria and also reach out to our large Diaspora community because they are all Nigerians no matter where they are born.
Most importantly, we must ensure that only qualified people are appointed to the leadership and management of Sports in Nigeria. There are too many mediocre people in charge and that's why we fail.
All over the world, International sports Federations, leagues, Clubs and Cities employ only those who have gone to study, Sports marketing, sports management, sports science, sports technology and performance data, sports law, sports finance and more.
We appoint Politicians, Civil servants, political cronies and party members into very serious sports leadership and management positions.
What we get is garbage and we know from basic computing what you get is garbage in, garbage out.
I will not waste time talking about the business of sport in Nigeria because those in charge never look beyond the Billions of Naira they get from government that they fight over.
We have the population, the fan base, the talent and the youth market to launch the biggest sports industry on the continent to unlock potentially Billions of US Dollars in value but hey!
What do I know?
Emeka Enyadike is an international Sport Journalist and Consultant based in South Africa
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