THE NIGERIAN WOMEN’S bobsled team is celebrating on today after becoming the first from Africa — male or female — to ever qualify for the Winter Olympics.
The Bobsled and Skeleton Federation of Nigeria posted a photograph on its Instagram account of the three-women team high-fiving one another with delight at making it to next year’s games in Pyeongchang, South Korea and said: “Ecstatic to say the least.”
“We are so proud of our Women’s Bobsled team being eligible to qualify for the Winter Olympic Games,” it added after they completed their last qualifying run in Calgary on Thursday.
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The qualification of Nigeria — where temperatures are currently upwards of 35 degress Celsius — has inevitably drawn comparisons with Jamaica’s participation in the 1988 Games in Calgary, Canada, which led to the 1993 film ‘Cool Runnings’.
Nigeria’s team — driver Seun Adigun and brakewomen Ngozi Onwumere and Akuoma Omeoga — have done little to play down the comparison.
They crowd-funded the $150,000 (€130,000) required to train and compete and through a mixture of savvy marketing and publicity have developed a strong online profile that has helped attract sponsorship from Visa and sportswear manufacturer Under Armour.
The women, who were all born and grew up in the United States, have a background in athletics. Adigun, competed for Nigeria at the 2012 Olympics.
She told the BBC in April this year: “My goal is to get this team representation for this country (Nigeria) and this continent (Africa) at the Olympic Games.
“We are from a continent that would never imagine sliding down ice at 80 or 90 miles an hour (130-145 kilometres per hour).
“The idea of being able to take to that in itself is empowering.”
The42 has just published its first book, Behind The Lines, a collection of some of the year’s best sports stories. Pick up your copy in Eason’s, or order it here today (€10):
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Nigerian women's bobsled team become the first from Africa to ever qualify for Winter Olympics
THE NIGERIAN WOMEN’S bobsled team is celebrating on today after becoming the first from Africa — male or female — to ever qualify for the Winter Olympics.
The Bobsled and Skeleton Federation of Nigeria posted a photograph on its Instagram account of the three-women team high-fiving one another with delight at making it to next year’s games in Pyeongchang, South Korea and said: “Ecstatic to say the least.”
“We are so proud of our Women’s Bobsled team being eligible to qualify for the Winter Olympic Games,” it added after they completed their last qualifying run in Calgary on Thursday.
The qualification of Nigeria — where temperatures are currently upwards of 35 degress Celsius — has inevitably drawn comparisons with Jamaica’s participation in the 1988 Games in Calgary, Canada, which led to the 1993 film ‘Cool Runnings’.
Nigeria’s team — driver Seun Adigun and brakewomen Ngozi Onwumere and Akuoma Omeoga — have done little to play down the comparison.
They crowd-funded the $150,000 (€130,000) required to train and compete and through a mixture of savvy marketing and publicity have developed a strong online profile that has helped attract sponsorship from Visa and sportswear manufacturer Under Armour.
The women, who were all born and grew up in the United States, have a background in athletics. Adigun, competed for Nigeria at the 2012 Olympics.
She told the BBC in April this year: “My goal is to get this team representation for this country (Nigeria) and this continent (Africa) at the Olympic Games.
“We are from a continent that would never imagine sliding down ice at 80 or 90 miles an hour (130-145 kilometres per hour).
“The idea of being able to take to that in itself is empowering.”
(C) AFP 2017
The42 has just published its first book, Behind The Lines, a collection of some of the year’s best sports stories. Pick up your copy in Eason’s, or order it here today (€10):
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