Nigeria at the 2018 Winter Olympics

Nigeria sent a delegation to compete at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea from 9–25 February 2018. This marked the debut for the country at the Winter Olympics. The delegation consisted of three bobsledders, who finished 19th in the two-woman competition, and skeleton racer Simidele Adeagbo who came in 20th in the women's event.

Nigeria at the
2018 Winter Olympics
IOC codeNGR
NOCNigeria Olympic Committee
in Pyeongchang, South Korea
February 9–25, 2018
Competitors4 in 2 sports
Flag bearer Ngozi Onwumere (opening)
Medals
Gold
0
Silver
0
Bronze
0
Total
0
Winter Olympics appearances (overview)

Background

Nigeria first participated in the Summer Olympic Games in the 1952 Helsinki Games,[1] but this was the nation's debut appearance at a Winter Olympic Games.[2] The chef de mission for the Nigerian contingent was Gbenga Elegbeleye and Dr David Olusoga Ogbolu.[3] The Nigerian delegation to Pyeongchang consisted of four women: bobsledders Seun Adigun, Akuoma Omeoga, and Ngozi Onwumere, and skeleton racer Simidele Adeagbo.[4] Onwumere was chosen as the flag bearer for the parade of nations during the opening ceremony, and Adeagbo was selected to carry the flag for the closing ceremony.[5][6]

Bobsleigh
Main articles: Bobsleigh at the 2018 Winter Olympics and Bobsleigh at the 2018 Winter Olympics – Qualification

Nigeria qualified a team of three athletes in the two-women bobsleigh competition through the quota for continental representation.[7] Seun Adigun was the driver of the sled, while Akuoma Omeoga and Ngozi Onwumere served as breakwomen, only one of which could be in the sled at a time.[1] All three were former track and field athletes,[8] and all were born in the United States.[9] Adigun participated in all four runs, while Omeoga participated in the first two runs, and Onwumere in the last two runs.[10] On 20 February, the first two heats were held, and the Nigerian sled posted times of 52.21 seconds and 52.55 seconds.[11] After the first two heats, they were roughly 3.5 seconds behind the leader.[12] The next day, in the third and fourth runs, their times were 52.31 seconds and 52.53 seconds respectively.[11] Their final time was 3 minutes and 29.60 seconds, which placed them 19th (after one sled from the Olympic Athletes from Russia was disqualified for doping).[13]

Athlete Event Run 1 Run 2 Run 3 Run 4 Total
Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank
Seun Adigun*
Akuoma Omeoga (Run 1–2)
Ngozi Onwumere (Run 3–4)		 Two-woman 52.21 19 52.55 19 52.31 19 52.53 19 3:29.60 19

* – Denotes the driver of each sled

Skeleton
Main articles: Skeleton at the 2018 Winter Olympics and Skeleton at the 2018 Winter Olympics – Qualification

Nigeria qualified one female skeleton athlete through the quota for continental representation.[14] Simidele Adeagbo is a Canadian native who spent her childhood in Nigeria.[15] She went to university in the United States at the University of Kentucky, where she was part of the track and field team.[16] She only took up skeleton racing in September of 2017.[16] Adeagbo is the first female athlete representing an African country to compete in skeleton, and she was 36 years old at the time of the Peyongchang Olympics.[17] On 16 February, she posted run times of 54.19 seconds and 54.58 seconds, making her first day combined time 1 minute and 48.77 seconds.[18] The next day, on her third run, she finished in a time of 53.73 seconds, and her fourth run was completed in 54.28 seconds.[19] After four runs, her final time was 3 minutes and 36.78 seconds, which put her in 20th place.[16][20]

Athlete Event Run 1 Run 2 Run 3 Run 4 Total
Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank
Simidele Adeagbo Women's 54.19 20 54.58 20 53.73 20 54.28 20 3:36.78 20

See also

References
  1. "Nigeria". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 3 September 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  2. "Winter Olympics 2018: African athletes to make history in Pyeongchang". BBC News. London, United Kingdom. 15 January 2018. Archived from the original on 15 January 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  3. Jacob Ajom (5 February 2018). "Buhari to host Nigeria Bobsled team after Korea Games". Vanguard Nigeria.
  4. Calfas, Jennifer (10 February 2018). "Nigeria's First Bobsled Team Arrives at the Opening Ceremony". Time. Archived from the original on 11 February 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  5. "Closing Ceremony Flagbearers – Olympic Winter Games, PyeongChang 2018" (PDF). International Olympic Committee. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 April 2018. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  6. "Opening Ceremony Flagbearers – Olympic Winter Games, PyeongChang 2018" (PDF). International Olympic Committee. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 February 2018. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  7. "Quota Allocation PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games 2018 – Women´s Bobsleigh – IBSF 14 January 2018" (PDF). www.ibsf.org. International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF). 15 January 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 January 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  8. Cohan, Michelle (31 January 2018). "Nigerian bobsled team to make Winter Olympic history in PyeongChang". CNN. Archived from the original on 19 March 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  9. Rich, Motoko; Akinwotu, Emmanuel (17 February 2018). "Bobsled Team Represents Nigeria Loosely, but Women Truly". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 11 April 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  10. "2018 Winter Olympics Results". ESPN. Archived from the original on 2 August 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  11. "Olympics-Bobsleigh-Women's Competition overall results". Reuters. 21 February 2018. Archived from the original on 27 May 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  12. Armour, Nancy (20 February 2018). "Winter Olympics 2018: Nigerian bobsled team shows possibility is prize". USA Today. Archived from the original on 2 August 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  13. "PyeongChang Women's bobleigh women". International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 2 August 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  14. "Quota Allocation PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games 2018 – Women's Skeleton – IBSF 14 January 2018" (PDF). www.ibsf.org. International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF). 15 January 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 January 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  15. Goldich, Mitch (16 February 2018). "Olympics 2018: Nigeria's Simidele Adeagbo makes history". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  16. Mussatto, Joe (18 February 2018). "Simidele Adeagbo makes history at Winter Olympics". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  17. Young, Henry (14 February 2018). "PyeongChang Winter Olympics: Simi Adeagbo slides for Nigeria". CNN. Archived from the original on 16 June 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  18. "UPDATE 1-Olympics-Skeleton-Women's individual overall results". Reuters. 16 February 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  19. "2018 Winter Olympics Results – Women's Skeleton". ESPN. Archived from the original on 2 August 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  20. "PyeongChang Individual women – Olympic Skeleton". International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 2 August 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
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