17th August, 2012
Nigeria equalled her worst performance in the Olympics since the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow, with Team Nigeria’s abysmal outing at the just concluded London 2012 Olympic Games. Adebobola Alawode, Bamidele Olowosagba and Abeeb Ogunbadejo, sought the reaction of sports fans to the team’s performance at the Summer Games
Ade Odusanya : I blame the Minister of Sports and Youth Development for the poor performance despite all the billions of naira they spent in London. There is need for the Federal Government to probe our participation at the Games.
Prince Tunde Alade, Grassroots Coach: Nigeria’s failure to win a single medal in London did not come to me as a surprise, because we failed to plan for the Games since the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. You don’t expect to win an Olympic medal with just two months of preparation. It doesn’t work that way. I hope those in charge will learn their lessons and begin preparation for the next Olympics in Brazil, by providing facilities at the grassroots for our sports talents.
Onasanya Alade Victor, Business Marketer: It’s disappointing for us not to win any medal at the 2012 Olympics despite the size of our population and the so-called ‘Giant of Africa’ status we gave to ourselves. We failed because the National Sports Commission, NSC and the Nigeria Olympic Commission, NOC, failed to do their work. For this reason, they should be held responsible for our woeful performance in London.
Biyi Amusa: It’s my belief before the Olympic Games began that we would at least surpassed what we did in 2008. But I was really disappointed with the performance of our athletes in London. Now is the right time for the National Sports Commission to be re-organised for us to have the right people running sports in this country.
Tayo Odukoya, Student: Team Nigeria’s participation in London really showed that we did not prepare enough for the Games. All the athletes performed below my expections and for me, the government is to blame for our awful outing. I just hope they would start preparation for the 2016 Games holding in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil now.
Chidozi Bede-Nwokoye, Marketing Manager: For me, it’s not a question of whether our athletes did not have what it takes to win medals at the Olympics, because many Nigerians who competed for other countries, such as Great Britain and USA won medals. The fact is that we failed to prepare well enough for the Games. However, this is not the time for us to to trade blames, but we need to look inwards and see where we failed and make corrections because the next Olympics is not far away.
Deolu Ojora, Sports Consultant: Team Nigeria failed because we, as Nigerians, have failed as a nation. When last do we as individuals, parents or guardians encourage our kids to take into sports-related activities? The United States of America, USA won the London 2012 Olympics because most of their athletes were encouraged at their tender age to go into sports. Same cannot be said of Nigeria. And, for us to have a turn around in fortunes at major championships, there is need for all of us to encourage our athletes. Also, the governments at all levels should start to invest in sporting facilites in the grassroots. That’s when we can start to win medals, it’s not a magic.
Eric Nwanjo: Team Nigeria’s performance at the London 2012 Olympic Games has proved to us that we cannot continue to rely on fire brigadge approach in our preparation for major tournaments. It’s only in Nigeria people rely so much on miracles to win in competitions. Now is the time for us to begin to prepare for the next Olympics, not when it’s few months to the Games that the government would release funds for an impromptu preparation. That’s what affected Team Nigeria in London.
Charles Uhobohai: Team Nigeria failed to win any medal at the 2012 Olympics because most of our athletes had exhausted their energy before the Games. The likes of Bessing Okagbare, Tosin Oke, and Gloria Asunmu that we expected to win medals for us in London could not re-enact the blistering form they put up in IAAF Golden League because they were tired. For this reason, Team Nigeria that won six medals four years ago in China, failed to win any medal in all the sports we participated in London, it is a shame on Nigeria.
Tony Adebanjo: There is nothing to cry about Team Nigeria’s failure to win medals at the just concluded London 2012 Olympics. Our problem at major competitions has always being for us to fail to plan, and eventually, we ended up planning to fail. With all the billions the Federal Government said they spent in preparing the athletes for London, there is no reason for us not to win medals, if we had started preparation some years back.Our hope is that we would have learnt our lessons now that small nations like Grenada, that their population is not up to a local council in Lagos has won a gold medal at the same London Olympics that we failed to win a medal.
Seun Odunleye: From my own personal view, I do not want to blame anybody for Team Nigeria’s poor performance at the 2012 Olympics, but I suspect something fundamental must have gone wrong in their camp in London.With all the propects we took to the Games and we didn’t win a single medal, I bet you something might have gone wrong in their camp in London.
Andy Imafidon, Production Service Manager: All those in charge of sports federations in this country should be blamed for Team Nigeria’s woeful outing in London. They all promised Nigerians different forms of medals before they departed for the Games, only for them to come back into the country with empty handed. They have all performed below expectations and they should be summoned.
Kennedy Idehor, Sports Consultant: I am really disappointed with a below par outing recorded by Team Nigeria at the just concluded London 2012 Olympics. It boils down to our sports administrators’ failiure to develop local athletes in other sports that could win us medals at major championships. We have good swimmers in this country such that if they are well trained for a number of years, we would be able to win medals through them in the nearest future. Now is the time for us to go back to the drawing board if we don’t want what happened in London to repeat itself in Rio De Janeiro 2016 Olympics.
Collin Udoh, KickOff Nigeria: We actually got what we deserved in London 2012 Games with Team Nigeria’s woeful outing. This is a country that fails to preparae her athletes well enough for a championship in the stature of the Olympics and expects to win medals. That is not possible. Personally, that we failed to win a single medal in London did not come as a surprise to me because the signs were over right there before our athletes departed the shores of this country for London. What is next is for us to begin preparation in earnest for the next Games.
Moses Praiz, SuperSport’s Journalist :
One lesson Team Nigeria’s woeful performance in London would teach us in this country is for us to stop relying on our athletes to go abroad and develop themselves for us to capitalise upon. We need to look inwards and start to develop sporting facilities all over the country. I could remember when we were young, there were so many stadia for us to train on, but these days, our young athletes could hardly get a stadium to train.
Thomas Mlambo, South African Journalist: Team Nigeria performed poorly just like many other African nations did because they failed to give their athletes first class training for them to be able to compete with the best athletes in the world. The moment Africans begin to prepare their athletes far ahead before championship, then they would begin to live up to their potentials. South African swimmers were able to win more medals in London because they trained in th US for a long time with the best of facilities you could find on planet Earth.
Femi Odunkoya: Personally, I don’t expect our athletes to win anything at the 2012 Olympics because their performances at the 2012 All Africa Athletic Meet in Calabar some weeks before the games showed they were not in good shapes.Next time they should try harder and with a bit of luck on their side, who knows, they could win some medals for Nigeria.