The Paris 2024 Olympics is set to officially start with an opening ceremony on July 26, 2024.
The Athletics Federation of Nigeria has released the list of 35 athletes comprising 17 men and 18 women that will represent the country in track and field events which is scheduled to hold from August 1 to 11th.
Team Nigeria who are making their 18th appearance at Paris will compete in nine events each in the men’s and women’s categories, including the mixed 4x400m relay.
As the countdown to the global sports showpiece begins, here are five female Nigerian athletes to look out for at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
1. Tobi Amusan
World 100m hurdles champion, Tobi Amusan leads the women’s athletics team to shine at the Paris Olympics. Amusan will be looking to improve her performance by earning a medal at her third Olympics.
The 27-year-old track and field athlete had considered quitting athletics after the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. In an interview, she revealed she fell into depression after finishing fourth in Tokyo.
A glimmer of hope however came in 2022 at the World Athletics Championships when she broke the record set by Gloria Alozie in 12.12 seconds making her the new World Champion in 100m hurdles. Since then, Amusan has added the Commonwealth and African titles to her achievements.
Will she achieve her biggest goal in the Paris 2024 Olympics? We will just have to wait and see.
2. Ese Brume
Since winning her first major international title at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, Long jump sensation, Ese Brume has not rested on her oars collecting medals in every major competition. She’s a two-time medalist at the world athletics championship, an Olympic bronze medalist, and also a five-time African junior champion in athletics.
Brume made her Olympic debut in Rio 2016 where she finished fifth with a best jump of 6.81m. In the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, her bronze medal in the long jump was Nigeria’s only medal at the event. In 2022, she won gold and also set a new record of 7.00m at the Commonwealth Games. The same year, the 28-year-old-old also became the first African woman in history to jump four legal marks in 2022.
She has her eyes on the gold medal at her third Olympics.
3. Favour Ofili
Favour Ofili is a track and field sprinter who made her debut at the Africa U18 and U20 championships. At 16, she was the youngest athlete at the 2019 World Championships in Doha where she competed in the 400 meters and 4×400 relay. She is the 2019 African Games silver medallist in the 400 metres and won silver for the 200 metres at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
In February 2024, the 21-year-old shattered both the national and African records in the women’s 300m at the 2024 New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston. Ofili clocked a record-breaking run time of 35.99 seconds, smashing Amantle Montsho’s 14-year-old 300m AR of 36.33s.
Favour will participate in the 200m and the 4×100 relay in Paris.
4. Chioma Onyekwere
In the course of her career, Chioma Onyekwere has won 3 African Titles, 2 consecutive gold medals at the African Championships (2018 & 2022) and a gold medal at the 2019 African Games. She holds the Nigerian and African record for the Discus throw and has competed in the shot put and discus throw both on the collegiate level and internationally.
Onyekwere will be making her third Olympic appearance at Paris 2024. Announcing her selection, she expressed her excitement and gratitude vowing to make it memorable. She was surprised to have made the list after her disappointing outing in the 2024 African Athletics Championship in Douala, Cameroon.
5. Sade Olatoye
Sade Olatoye is a shotput and hammer throw athlete. Born in Ohio to an athletically and academically gifted family, she represented the United States in 2016 at the IAAF World U20 Championships ion Bydgoszcz, Poland before switching allegiance to Nigeria in 2019.
Olatoye who is an epitome of beauty and brains has two medical degrees, a Bachelor’s in health and rehabilitation sciences and a Master’s in Bioethics both from Ohio State University.
She made history at the Music City Challenge in 2023 in the women’s weight throw category after throwing a personal best of 25.32m earning her the fifth best position in world history. She is currently the African champion in the women’s hammer throw.