Africans rising

Nigerian women’s team is the first ever African Bobsled team to qualify for Winter Olympics

For the first time ever, Nigeria will be represented in the Winter Olympics after the women’s bobsled team qualified for the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. The Nigerian Bobsled Team is the first ever African Bobsled team to qualify for the Winter Olympics.

Published

7 years ago

November 17, 2017

Kylie Kiunguyu

Nigerian women’s three-member bobsled team; which was only formed in 2016; is the first African team at the winter event. Driver Seun Adigun and brakemen Ngozi Onwumere and Akuoma Omeoga completed the fifth of their required five qualifying races, becoming the first African team, men or women, to qualify in the Bobsled category.

Adigun – a former African 100m hurdles champion and 2012 summer Olympian told KweséESPN, “This is a huge milestone for sports in Nigeria. Nothing makes me prouder than to know that I can play a small role in creating opportunities for winter sports to take place in Nigeria. Our objective now is to be the best representation of Africa that the Winter Olympics have ever witnessed.”

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Via a media statement Solomon Ogba, President of the Bobsled and Skeleton Federation of Nigeria said, “I commend the personal dedication and commitment of these women… Their hard work was inspiring and I hope Nigerians can appreciate what it took for them to achieve this – the work, the discipline, and the personal sacrifices. They were amazing throughout this journey… They are all very successful people in their own right – in sports and out of it, and somehow they are still motivated and still push for more success… I have watched them train and work hard to represent Nigeria at the Winter Olympics in a very technical and high risk sport and they have achieved that. They should be very proud, and I am very proud of them.”

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Adigun started a Go Fund Me campaign late last year to raise $US75,000 to fund their Olympic bid, which they achieved in 11 months. Another Nigerian competitor, Simidele Adeagbo, is just two races away from qualifying for the Skeleton competition. Skeleton is a single-rider winter sport in which a person rides a skeleton bobsled down a frozen track while lying face down.

Read: Meet Camilla Kruger: Zimbabwe’s first Olympics equestrian rider