Because the curtains fall on the 2023 African Video games in Ghana, Egypt who’ve develop into serial winners of the ‘continental Olympic Video games’ are poised to win their seventh title as Staff Nigeria are additionally certain of ending the video games in second place for the sixth time.
The one time Nigeria received the African Video games was in 2003 when the nation hosted the eighth version within the metropolis of Abuja. It’s mentioned the federal government of President Olusegun Obasanjo spent over N38 billion to offer services for the video games.
Even because the Pharaohs have once more proved their sporting would possibly in Accra, it wasn’t a dismal exhibiting as Nigerian athletes additionally keep their space of dominance on the video games regardless of the menace from South Africa, Algeria, Tunisia and Ghana.
Simply because the Egyptians have remained dominant in sports activities like desk tennis, weightlifting, swimming, judo and karate, Staff Nigeria confirmed clearly that they’re nonetheless formidable in wrestling, weightlifting, athletics, and desk tennis, whilst they now seem like enjoying a second fiddle to Egypt within the ping pong sport.
Staff Nigeria’s preparation for the video games wasn’t the most effective the athletes desired however with their inherent dedication, doggedness, perseverance and resilience, the Nigerians once more dominated of their strongholds as there was no stopping them in athletics, weightlifting, and wrestling.
With a complete of 350 athletes, Staff Nigeria received at the very least a medal in nearly all of the 23 occasions. As standard, athletics and weightlifting lifted Staff Nigeria properly above South Africa, Algeria Tunisia, and the host nation Ghana, who had made feeble makes an attempt to dislodge Nigeria from the second place.
Even within the absence of completed athletes like Blessing Okagbare, Raymond Ekevwo, Favour Ofili and a bunch of others who led Nigeria’s cost for medals on the final video games in Rabat, Morocco, Nigeria athletics in Accra, Ghana lived as much as their pre-games favourites tag as world report holder, Tobi Amusan, Chidi Okezie, Usheoritse Iteskiri, Ese Brume, Ruth Usoro impressed the brand new technology of athletes to podium appearances.
Consequently, it was one other superb outing, as on the time of press, athletics alone had contributed 9 gold, three silver, and two bronze medals to Nigeria’s medal haul. Expectedly, Amusan received her third consecutive gold medal within the ladies’s 100m hurdles in model, Brume bagged her second African Video games gold medal in lengthy bounce, Chidi Okezie spectacularly upgraded his bronze on the final video games to gold within the 400m simply as Ruth Usoro additionally clinched gold within the triple bounce occasion. There have been additionally gold medals from Chukuwebuka Enekwechi in males’s shot put as Staff Nigeria received different gold medals in each women and men’s 4x100m relay and the combined 4x400m relay which dominated the headlines on the video games.
Other than the gold medals, Usheoritse Itsekiri, Esther Joseph, Chioma Onyekwere and Kemi Francis Petersen received silver medals in males’s 100m, ladies’s 400m, ladies’s focus on throw and ladies’s heptathlon respectively as Olayinka, Oyesade Olatoye and Prestina Ochonogor every received bronze in ladies’s 100m, ladies’s hammer throw and ladies’s lengthy bounce for athletics’ 9 gold, 4 silver and three bronze medals.
Staff weightlifting additionally scooped 16 gold, 10 silver, and 6 bronze medals to provide the Egyptians a run for his or her cash. As a matter of truth, in a single day, Edidiong Umoafia, Ajijat Olarionye, and Rafiatu Lawal received three gold medals every of their respective occasions. Curiously, the next day, Ruth Ayodele and Pleasure Ogbonne Eze repeated the identical feat in ladies’s 64kg and 71kg complete, snatch in addition to clear and jerk occasion. Mary Osijo additionally contributed one gold in ladies’s 87kg clear and jerk.
Additionally, the tenth of March, 2024, will stay indelible within the reminiscence of most Nigerian sports activities followers as six of the nation’s wrestlers swept all out there gold medals in ladies’s wrestling. The same old suspects, Olympic silver medallist Blessing Oborududu and world champion, Odunaya Adekuroye, began the medal rush earlier than their compatriots Mercy Genesis, Christiana Ogunsaya, Esther Kolawole, and Hannah Reuben adopted swimsuit for a historic efficiency that was complemented by the arm wrestlers who additionally received 4 gold, two silver and 7 bronze medals.
Though majority of the medals got here from the secure of weightlifting, athletics and ladies’s wrestling, there have been additionally some joyous moments in badminton as Africa’s quantity participant, Anuoluwapo Juwon Opeyori, edged his compatriot Godwin Olofua to retain his gold medal simply because the duo later mixed to win silver in males’s doubles occasion. Sadly, former African champion Dorcas Ajokke Adesokan dropped from second to 3rd as she solely picked up bronze within the ladies’s singles occasion. There have been two extra bronze medals in badminton for Staff Nigeria in ladies’s doubles and males’s singles. So, badminton contributed one gold, two silver, and three bronze to Staff Nigeria’s medals.
In taekwondo, Elizabeth Anyanacho received gold in ladies’s -67kg whereas her teammates Mahmadou Amadou and Maman Chipkaou received silver and bronze respectively in males’s -54kg and -63kg to sign Staff Nigeria’s impression within the fight sport.
Sadly, desk tennis which was Nigeria’s stronghold has did not ship a single gold medal because the star-studded squad led by former Africa’s primary participant Aruna Quadri and Offiong Edem solely managed to win three silver and three bronze medals. Though extremely rated with an intimidating profile, Quadri ended with one other silver as his seek for the elusive gold continues.
Additionally it is worthy to notice that whilst they have been unable to match the efficiency of athletics and weightlifting, tennis, swimming, judo, cricket, karate, biking and seashore volleyball received one bronze every simply as chess managed to win two bronze medals on the video games.
The poor output in judo, swimming, cricket and the remaining shouldn’t be doubt a sign that the respective federations should do extra to raise the usual of the sports activities within the nation.
So, because the curtains fall on the thirteenth version of the African Video games which began on March 8, solely a miracle will cease Egypt who had already amassed 94 gold, 43 silver and 38 bronze from successful the well-attended video games in Accra, Ghana.
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On the time of press, Staff Nigeria with 37 gold, 26 silver and 35 bronze was nonetheless attempting to find extra medals to surpass or at the very least match their efficiency of 46 gold, 36 silver and 48 bronze medals on the final version of the African Video games in Rabat, Morocco.
Even when Staff Nigeria is unable to surpass their report of 130 medals in 2019, Nigerians will savour for a very long time among the breathing-taking performances of the nation’s athletes like Okezie and Omolara, a mom of two, who did the unimaginable when she anchored and actually introduced again the combined 4x400m relay squad from the demise to win gold in a fashion that surprised the entire world. As well as, the blistering pace with which the energetic Nigerian males overpowered the defending champions Ghana to win the 4x100ms relay gold will not fade away simply within the reminiscence of sports activities loving Nigerians.
Nonetheless, because the 2023 African Video games finish as we speak, the speaking level for many Nigerians will little question be the failure of the ladies’s soccer group, the Falconets to defend their gold medal. The ladies underperformed when it mattered most and misplaced 1-2 to their Ghanaian counterparts in additional time on Thursday evening. Sadly, Nigeria’s Flying Eagles had crashed out of the lads’s soccer occasion on the group stage.
In the meantime, Egypt will host the following version of the African Video games in 2027.
