Nigeria has ended the 2024 Paris Olympics without a medal.
Hannah Reuben lost her Women’s Freestyle 76kg fight early Saturday to effectively put the country’s slim hope of making the podium to rest.
She lost 5-2 to Mongolia’s Enkh-Amaryn Davaanasan in the round of 16 tie, capping off a woeful showing for the West African nation.
Team Nigeria went to the Olympics on the back of some great performances in qualifying events. The country registered for 12 events, but sadly – like previous Games – failed to translate its continental dominance at the Olympics.
A series of heartbreaking losses and some administrative lapses have seen Nigeria return home without a medal. The last time that happened was at the London Games in 2012.
Nigeria’s poor showing in Paris was replicated in 1952 Helsinki, 1956 Melbourne, 1960 Rome, 1968 Mexico, 1980 Moscow, and 1988 Seoul where the country won no medal.
President Bola Tinubu had approved N12 billion for the country’s outing at the Olympics and the Paralympics. N9bn was earmarked for the former while N 3bn was budgeted for the latter.
In the wake of Nigeria’s shoddy outing at the Paris Olympics, the Minister of Sports Development John Enoh described the performances as a disaster, promising to address the issues leading to the nation’s failure in France.
“As we go back home, we must do everything to prevent future occurrences of the Paris disaster and if this will entail the review of how people are elected to lead our sporting federations, it will be done,” he wrote on X on Saturday.
“The elections for the federations are around the corner, and it will be the perfect platform to get only those who are most eligible to lead the various sports federations.
“Team Nigeria’s disappointing performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where the country did not secure any medals does not entail being addressed just by our participation at the Olympics, but it is a product of very many other things that need immediate attention.”