The modern Olympic Games which began
in 1896 in Greece is once again back at
home but this time with nations from all the continents participating thereby making it a truly global fiesta unlike the maiden edition which witnessed the gathering of a few European countries.
As Nigeria with 147 contingents joins other nations in the two-week biggest sporting fiesta in the world, expectations are high considering the exploits from the 8th All Africa Games hosted and won by Nigeria in Abuja late last year. If the performance of the country in the Abuja ’2003 Games is anything to go by, then Athens’ 2004 should be more exciting than Atlanta ’96 where the country won two gold medlas, one silver and three bronze, its finest performance so far.
Again with the recent disqualification of the American 4X400m relay team in the Sydney Games, Nigeria has been awarded the gold medal as a runner up by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and this should serve as a morale booster to Team Nigeria which made the country proud in the Abuja’ 2003 All Africa Games.
Going by the early preparations of Team Nigeria and the foresight of the ministry of sports by camping the country’s athletes in Germany, Cuba and Bulgaria, with a view to further exposing them to standard and modern facilities, hopes are high that the country might perform better than it did in Atlanta eight years ago when Chioma Ajunwa and the Dream Soccer Team won two gold medals in long jump and soccer respectively.
However, with barely a week to the end of Athens’ 2004, the country is yet to register its name on the medals table and this has already been raising fears that the 10-gold medal target is merely a wishful thinking as pointed out by the Sports Minister, Colonel Musa Mohammed (rtd), but then, it is not over yet.
In all, Nigeria has won 17 medals in the Olympics between 1952 in Helsinki, Finland when it first joined the Games and Sydney, 2000 with only three gold, seven silver and seven bronze to show. This, going by the amount of money spent does not measure up to the country’s image even though the essence of the Games is participation.
Before the commencement of Athens’ 2004, Corporate Nigeria promised to raise N500 million for Team Nigeria and with over half of the amount raised, coupled with early preparations and the camping of the athletes in foreign countries, we believe Nigeria deserves more medals as an African champion than its present position on the medals table.
We hope before the end of the on-going Games, Nigeria would not only register its name in gold but also prove to be the best African country in Athens. This is not impossible with determination and the will to make the country proud.
