Julius OkorieIt is no longer news that Team Nigeria recorded the worst outing at the Paris Olympics, which ended on Sunday featuring 10,714 athletes and 216 countries with 1,436 medals won.
It is also no longer news that the country did not pick a medal of any colour and did not feature on the medal table despite parading 88 athletes in 12 events.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelAgain, it is no longer news that Nigeria was absent in the table of African countries who picked at least one medal. A table led by Kenya with 11 medals including four gold medals and which also had Cape Verde and Zambia, the last duo on the medal table with a medal each.
Of course, no one will expect a country with no medal to be ranked so it was no surprise that while countries that managed to earn one Bronze were ranked jointly 84th, Nigeria was simply dropped with no rank put can be ranked 85th with four zeroes to denote no gold, no silver no bronze, end of story.
Going into analysis of why Team Nigeria failed in Paris, is like sounding like broken record a repeat of the same ritual in recent times. The question would be what should be done to avoid this global disgrace of a country that claims to be giant of Africa? No one is an island and non should claim to have solutions to everything but here are 10 things Nigeria must do to avoid a repeat of Paris in the next four years in Los Angeles:
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Early preparation:
The best time to begin preparation for the next Olympics for those who want to win medals is not a year or six months to the Games but a day after the closing ceremony of the previous game. That is why the Olympics is once in four years to enable nations Prepare and present their best. The Americans who fetched medals with baskets have competitions all year round including collegiate games all these add. Are NUGA and NIPOGA fertile ground for identifying athletes still relevant today?
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Get Dead Woods Out of Sports Federation:
Luckily Elections into Sports Federation is around the corner, the usual politics of balancing must be dumped for competence, to elect only candidates who are knowledgeable about the sports they are superintending. Those who can no longer function need to go, for better and timely management of time and resources.
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Identify And Groom Younger Athletes:
We need to go back to the basics. Looking at the Olympics athletes picking medals are young energetic and fast. Many have been discovered from schools and are still in school competing in collegiate competitions round the year and leading to major competitions. A member of USA Gymnastics team Hezly Rivera is only 16.
Once upon a time we had Principal Cup, well-structured inter-house sports held in standard venues. Inter house sports in between two streets and in tiny school compounds amounts to mere physical fitness and not competition related.
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Political will to punish incompetence:
One of the major distractions at the Paris Olympics was inability of Favour Ofili to feature in the 100m race due to failure of AFN and NOC to register and see to it that the athlete was properly registered to compete. It grabbed more of the headlines. Whether should would have won or not is not the issue that she was denied that chance is not good enough. Sports Minster John Enoh promised full investigation and sanction. This must not be swept under the carpet to serve as deterrent.
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Seek Your Athletes Wherever They Can Be Found:
The reason for having Sports Federations is to identify and groom athletes for competitions like the Olympics. It also includes identifying such athletes who show potentials even outside the shores of the country and reaching out to them just in time before they are poached by other countries.
It is on record that no fewer than nine athletes of Nigerian origin won medals for other countries including winners USA, and hosts France. The time to reach out is not when they have made it but while they are showing signs of ability. The tendency to wait for ready-made product is no longer working and must be changed.
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Early Release of Funds for Training:
It is funny how release of funds for training takes centuries to achieve. I remember long ago when Dr Amos Adamu, one time former Director Genera National Sports Commission, made a statement which has continued to resonate that “Approval is different from release” he made it in relation to delays and bottlenecks that come with release of funds.
READ ALSO: Paris Olympics Closes In Style, USA Tops Medal Table
When the funds are delayed it affects the training timetable and by extension the amount of time needed to perfect certain skills. Nigerians still have their hearts in their hands every time Nigeria relay file out because of incidences associated with change of baton. Baton exchange is not easy but can be perfected through regular training and practice.
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Football Has Only One Medal:
It is important to give attention to other sports if we are to effectively compete at the Olympics. Experience has shown that it is only when Super Eagles are playing that we appear to take issue of funds release seriously.
Even at that the Eagles are not in the top ten of teams to beat. As we speak we have not sorted out the issue of Super Eagles coach after the resignation of Finidi George. January is only five months away when the next round of world Cup qualifiers will take place. If such delays in decision making are recorded in the so called ‘almighty football’ we can imagine what happens in relation to other sports.
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Identify Camp Site Early:
Decision over where to camp needs not take a century to make. Having legions of meetings just to arrive at camping venue keeps athletes stranded and reduces camping time.
- Keep Communication Channel Open:
Minister of Sports Senator John Enoh
In this era of social media response to enquiries are most times immediate. A situation where sports administrators go incommunicado forcing athletes to pour out their anger on the social media before they react to issues is not healthy and a danger sign ahead of major competitions. Nipping ugly trends in the bud before they escalate is always the way to go.
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Keep favoritism out of sports:
Olympics performance is all about being the best, it is about timing and it is about determination. At no time should an athlete be picked just because his father is this and that or because a certain politician is interested in him or her.
There are records to be set, there are records to be broken and the only ones who can do that are athletes who have shown ability on the pitch and on the tracks. Los Angeles, Olympics 2028 Beckons!
Julius Okorie is Chief Sports and Entertainment Correspondent for Prime Business Africa. He began his journalism career with the Champion Newspaper and Sporting Champion and later moved on to Daily Independent and the Nation Newspapers. Okorie joined Prime Business Africa in 2024 bringing on board 20 years of experience in writing investigative news on Sports and Entertainment. His well researched and highly informative articles on Sports Business and general entertainment are followed by a wide range of audience.
