By Chris Udochukwu
ABUJA FCT – The Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Enoh has eulogised the female Basketball team D’Tigress and the Nigerian athletes for their fantastic performance at the ongoing 2024 Olympic Games taking place in Paris.
Senator Enoh who took to his X account to commend the D’Tigress despite their defeat yesterday by the United States female Basketball team, stated that “the D’Tigress made the nation proud, and there’s no shame in losing to the world’s number 1 ranked team. They struck a high note and made a statement even at the quarterfinal match with 74 – 88. The first African team ever to get to the quarter-finals, they have moved four ranks up on the power ranking table. We are proud of them. Their games have been spectacular.”
Similarly, he highlighted that Our athletes are giving their best and making us proud – Ese Ukpeseraye was the only African cyclist amongst the 30 cyclists at the Olympics. Uchenna Ogazi, after 36 years, made the finals of the men’s 400m race, and Favour Ofili had a good run and has shown great dexterity.
The Minister urged Nigerians to keep rooting for our athletes.
His statement reads:
Precise Post recalls that United States brought Nigeria’s Paris Olympics experience to an end with a testy 88-74 quarter-final win on Wednesday.
The first African team, men or women, to reach the knockout stage of an Olympic basketball tournament, the plucky Nigerian underdogs have been one of the Paris Games feel good stories for their spirited, joyful play and boundless self-belief that has embodied the Olympic spirit.
But an Olympic first is one thing, bringing an end to the US 58-match winning streak and run of seven consecutive gold medals would have been a contender for biggest upset in sporting history.
But Nigeria did not exit meekly, throwing a small fright into the mighty Americans when they rallied in the second quarter to pull within four, 31-27.
The Nigerians also would not be intimidated by the US and stood their ground at the finish when the Americans vented some frustrations with Kahleah Copper of the US swatting the ball at Ezinne Kalu after she drove in for a layup as the final second ticked off the clock.
Further recall that Samuel Ogazi shattered a 24-year record by advancing to the semifinals in the men’s 400m.
Ogazi ran a new personal best of 44.50 seconds, finishing 2nd behind USA’s Quincy Hall, who won the race in 44.28 seconds. Ogazi’s impressive performance marked the first time in 24 years that a Nigerian male quarter-miler qualified for the 400m semifinals at the Olympics.
Thankfully, Favour Ofili was able to compete, becoming the first Nigerian to qualify for the final of the women’s 100 meters at the Olympics in 28 years. The 21-year-old clocked 22.05 seconds to finish second in heat 1 of the women’s 200-meter semifinal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Nigeria has not been represented in the event’s final at the games since Mary Onyali achieved the feat in Atlanta ’96.
Oborududu also qualified for the semifinals of the women’s 68kg freestyle in wrestling.
Blessing Oborududu
She defeated Canada’s Linda Morais in the first round 8-2 before outclassing France’s Koumba Larrouque in the quarterfinal 6-2.
Nigeria’s basketball team, D’Tigress, has also qualified for their first-ever quarterfinal at the Olympic Games after a thrilling 79-70 win over Canada in their final group B match.
Olympics. He secured his spot by finishing 2nd in heat 4 with a time of 48.32 seconds, earning an automatic qualification.
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