Nigeria savours its Olympic bobsled debut moment
PYEONGCHANG — Nigeria was winning the Olympic women’s bobsled race.
Yes, really. That sentence is 100 per cent accurate — albeit with some massive reservations. The Nigerians were the second sled down the track in the opening heat of the women’s competition at the Pyeongchang Olympics, and over the first few turns of the course they actually were going along faster than the Korean sled that preceded them. So yes, they were winning.
“I know!” pilot Seun Adigun shrieked afterward, overjoyed by the notion.
Of course, after that quick flirtation with the lead, their sled bounced off the roof and commenced the inevitable freefall to last place. Briefly leading, finishing last, none of that was the point Tuesday night. Simply getting to the Olympics has been victory enough for this Nigerian team, three women who live in the U.S. and have backgrounds in other sports before deciding to try sliding — and now, officially, are the first bobsled to represent Africa on the sport’s biggest stage. “There were some good things,” Adigun said. “One of the biggest things that we’re trying to do from the beginning is show people how important that it is to be selfless and what it means to also do something bigger than yourself.”
The final two runs are Wednesday night. For the Nigerian sled to not finish last, they’ll need someone ahead of them to make a massive mistake. Again, that’s irrelevant. They have been rock stars at these Olympics, for all the right reasons. Athletes of all sorts — male, female, white, black — have wanted hugs and selfies, which is all the vindication the Nigerians have needed to show that this foray was worthwhile.
Most, it seems, are talking about Nigerian bobsled. And that simply blows Adigun’s expectations away.
“We still are trying to cope with it,” Adigun said. “We like to be more low-key, but we know that when we came into this whole process it was to bring awareness. If people are excited about that, we can’t now revert back and get into our shell.”