A strong team of Nigerian athletes head to Paris with high hopes after a disappointing showing in Tokyo. At the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which took place in 2021 due to COVID-19, Nigeria won just two medals, a silver won by Blessing Oborodudu in wrestling and a bronze won by Ese Brume in the long jump.
At Paris 2024, a total of 88 Nigerian athletes (25 males and 63 females) will be vying for medals in 12 sports: athletics, badminton, basketball, boxing, canoeing, cycling, football, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, weightlifting, and wrestling, from Friday, July 26 to Sunday, August 11.
There will be Olympic veterans and household names, breakout stars on the verge of the limelight, professional athletes and, inevitably, surprise medal-worthy performances by Nigerians you’ve never heard of. Catching every athlete in every event is a big ask, so we cut it down to just a few.
Here are some of the Nigerian athletes to keep an eye on in Paris.
Tobi Amusan (Athletics – Hurdles)
World record holder Tobi Amusan is the country’s flagbearer for the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Amusan became the first ever Nigerian world champion and world record holder in an athletics event when she won the 2022 World Championships 100 m hurdles gold.
Her build-up to the Olympics has been impressive. She clinched a third consecutive Diamond League title early this year. Amusan also completed a hat-trick of African Games triumphs in Accra where she also anchored Nigeria to women’s 4x100m relay gold.
Ese Brume (Athletics – Long Jump))
Having claimed bronze at last year’s Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Brume has proved beyond doubt that she is one of the world’s finest long jumpers. Since her stellar international athletics debut eight years ago, Brume has won medals at every major championship.
Brume came full circle in 2022, reclaiming the Commonwealth Games title she won in 2014 and setting a new championship record of 7.00m. The strides she has made in recent years suggest she is on the cusp of turning bronze and silver into gold in Paris
Favour Ashe (Athletics – Sprinting)
The 22-year-old Ashe recently set a new personal best with a time of 9.94s in the men’s 100m at the NCAA East Prelims. This is the fastest time in the NCAA for 2024 and the second fastest globally this year. Ashe is a promising athlete who could make a significant impact in Paris.
Asisat Oshoala (Football)
The current African Women’s Footballer of the Year is one of the names Nigerians will look out for when the Super Falcons take to the pitch. As well as winning African Women’s Footballer of the Year a record six times, in 2023 she became the first Nigerian player – male or female – to score in three consecutive World Cup tournaments. Asisat is a true icon and a trailblazer of African football and her teammates will look up to her for inspiration in Paris
Blessing Oborodudu (Wrestling)
Currently ranked as the world’s number two-woman wrestler, Oborududu is unarguably the most decorated among the Nigerian athletes heading to Paris, being a twelve-time African champion with three African Games gold, two Commonwealth gold, and two Islamic Solidarity Games gold, bringing her haul to 13 gold, one silver, and one bronze. She will be looking to go one better than Tokyo 2020 when she was beaten in the final by American Tamyra Mensah Stock
Aruna Quadri (Table Tennis)
It will be the fourth Olympic appearance for the world number 19, having starred in the 2012, 2016, and 2020 editions, reaching the quarterfinals in 2016. He is the first African player to be ranked in the in the top 10 in the world, with one Commonwealth Games silver and one gold and silver at the African Games in his kitty.
Odunayo Adekuoroye (Wrestling)
Female freestyle wrestler, Odunayo Adekuoroye became the country’s first athlete to qualify for the Olympic Games in Paris after winning the bronze medal in women’s 57kg at the World Championships in Belgrade last September. This will be Adekuoroye’s third Olympics and she will be gunning for the elusive medal after disappointments in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.