It was a bright summer evening on September 12th 1960.as the sun faded behind Rome's Olympic stadium , an unknown black figure emerged ahead of the field in the gruelling marathon Event. Tongues wagged in disbelief of the barefooted Abebe Bikila completed the final lap to wave the Ethiopian flag in triumph .
A few minutes later, he went on the podium to claim the first ever gold medal won by a black African in the Olympic games
colonialism delayed Africa's contribution to Olympic glory and, for ever half a century, the African presence in modern Olympic games was restricted to Egyptians entries.
so it was until the Tokyo Olympics in Japan in 1964 that Nigeria clinched her first Olympic medal - a bronze in boxing by Nojim Maiyegun. Boxer Isaac Ikhuria won a second bronze for Nigeria in 1972 at the Munich Olympic in Germany.
in 1976 and 1980, political issues kept African athletes away from the Olympic Games, and the absence of such international competition had an adverse effect on sport in Africa. in 1984, only one African won a gold medal -Nawal El Moutawakili, who won the women's 400m hurdles at the Los Angeles Games. but in the same year, boxer Peter Konyegwachie won nigeria's first Olympic silver medal.
Then in 1996, at the Atlanta Olympics, Nigeria stunned the world with a series of of brilliant successes. In athletic, chioma Ajunwa stole the by becoming the the first Nigerian woman to win a gold - and became a national heroine . the women's relay team missed out on a gold by a mere tenth of a second. hpowever, both falilat Ogunkoya Ocheku and Mary Onyali won -well- deserved respectively. Another bronze was won by super heavyweight boxer Duncan Dokiwari. but it was in the most popular sport in the world, football, That Nigeria occupied centre stage in 1996, Triumphing over teams from Japan, Mexico, brazil and Angentina to win Africa's first ever Olympic gold for football. The whole world applauded the success of Nigeria's footballers - and the nation rejected in 2008, Nigeria was awarded a belated gold medal for the Sydney Olymoics in 2000 after the US 4x400m relay team was stripped of their gold medal following a doping scandal. but since 1996, Nigeria's Olympic performance has been disappointing, although both men's relay teams won bronzes at Athens in 2004. Nigeria has had significant successes in the All-Africa Games,, with F.Igbinoghene and runners Chidi Imoh, Innocent Egbunike and Mary Onyali. Critics point to the need for greater investment in sports training facilitiesin Nigeria, and a greater emphasis on sport in Nigeria, and a greater emphasis on sport in Nigeria's schools
The medal haul in Beijing in 2008 - one silver and three bronzes -was disappointing; but we should pay tribute to those who took part - and especially those who achieved success. these includes Damola Osayomi, Francisca Idoka, Gloria Kemasuede and Emem Ede (the women's 4x400 relay team), Chika Yagazie Chukwumerije (men's 80g taekwondo), and blessing Okagbare (women's long jump ) - all of whom won bronze medals; and of course our soccer team, who came so close to getting a Gold. Their success at the Games will be a source of joy and inspiration to all Nigerians.
