Tokyo Olympics: Nigeria finishes 74th on the medal table, 8th in Africa

Nigeria ranked 74th on the medal log as the curtain fell on Tokyo Olympics after more than a fortnight of intriguing sporting events. 

The 32nd Olympics saw Nigeria add two medals to her modest haul at the Games.

The silver won by Blessing Oborududu in wrestling and the bronze secured by Ese Brume in long jump took Nigeria’s Olympics medal tally to 27.

Although issues of administrative laxity affected the performances of Team Nigeria in Tokyo, some of the athletes punched through the logjam to show flashes of their brilliance.

Twenty-one-year-old Enoch Adegoke became the first Nigerian to qualify for the men’s 100 meters final in 25 years, and 17-year-old Abiola Ogunbanwo broke the national record in swimming when she posted  59.74 seconds in the women’s 100m freestyle in the swimming event.

However, the big guns failed to live up to the hype that heralded them into the competition.

It began with Blessing Okagbare’s suspension after she tested positive for human growth hormone.

The ouster of Aruna Quadri in the third round of the men’s singles of the table tennis event was also a shocker, followed by the pinfall loss of Odunayo Adekuruoye in her first bout in Tokyo.

Among the African countries, Nigeria finished the Olympics placed eighth on the medals log.

Kenya, the highest-ranked African country, placed 19th position overall with 4 gold medals, two silver, and two bronze.

Uganda follows with two gold medals, one silver, and one bronze while South Africa, Egypt, and Ethiopia complete the top 5 performers for the continent.

The US edged China to finish at the top of the log with 39 gold, 41 silver, and 33 bronze medals.

Japan, the host country, finished third while Great Britain and Russia finished fourth and fifth respectively.