Nigeria’s hopes of securing a medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics were dashed on Saturday after Hannah Reuben lost her Women’s Freestyle 76kg fight to Mongolia’s Enkh-Amaryn Davaanasan.
The loss marked the end of Nigeria’s slim chances of making the podium, capping off a disappointing showing for the West African nation.
Despite registering for 12 events and taking 77 athletes to the Games, Nigeria failed to translate its continental dominance into Olympic success.
The country’s poor outing has been described as a “disaster” by Minister of Sports Development John Enoh, who vowed to take steps to prevent future occurrences.
Nigeria’s last medal-less Olympics was at the London Games in 2012.
The country’s athletes had shown promise in qualifying events, but a series of heartbreaking losses and administrative lapses ultimately led to their disappointing performance.
President Bola Tinubu had approved N12 billion for the country’s outing at the Olympics and Paralympics, but the investment failed to yield the desired results.
Nigeria’s sports minister has pledged to review the leadership of the country’s sporting federations to prevent future disappointments.
