2024 Paris Olympics: See Nigerian Athletes Already Out

The participation of Team Nigeria in the 2024 Paris Olympics has been challenging, with disappointing results affecting the country’s standing in the medals table.

On Sunday, Offiong Edem became the third Nigerian athlete to exit the table tennis event at the 2024 Paris Olympics, suffering a 4-0 defeat to Brazil’s Bruna Takahashi in the women’s singles Round of 64. This followed the losses of Quadri Aruna and Olajide Omotayo on Saturday.

Despite claiming the first set, Omotayo faced a 4-1 loss to Iran’s Noshad Alamiyan, initiating Nigeria’s unfortunate streak of exits in the table tennis competition. Aruna suffered a dramatic defeat as he squandered a 3-0 lead, eventually losing 4-3 to 19-year-old Romanian Eduard Ionescu.

The hope now rests on Fatimo Bello, who will compete in the women’s singles Round of 64 on Monday.

However, the table tennis setbacks were not the only disappointments for Team Nigeria on Sunday. The Super Falcons recorded a 1-0 loss to world champions Spain which means they are just a draw away from crashing out of the 2024 Paris Olympics after two successive defeats. Their last group stage game is against Japan.

Also, Adam Olaore, who is Nigeria’s last hope in the boxing event at the 2024 Paris Olympics following Cynthia Ogunsemilore’s disqualification, was defeated in the boxing heavyweight round of 16 by Kazakhstan’s Aibek Oralbay.

He was outclassed by the Kazakh in a one-sided bout at the North Paris Arena. The defeat extended Nigeria’s medal drought in Olympic boxing since the Atlanta ’96 Games.

Note that Cynthia Ogunsemilore, a prominent lightweight boxer, tested positive for a banned substance, furosemide, ahead of her opening fight at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Team Nigeria is yet to win any medal in Paris so far.