AFN looks at ‘positives’ as Team Nigeria returns empty-handed

The first batch of the Nigerian contingent to the just-concluded Paris 2024 Olympic Games are expected to return to the country today. The Guardian learnt, yesterday, that the first set of athletes would depart the Olympics Village this morning, while the second batch will leave tomorrow.

The team of 88 athletes, which is the country’s largest contingent to the Games in recent times, is coming home after two weeks of competition without winning a single medal. This is the country’s worst outing since the London 2012 Games, where the country did not win any medal.

The Paris 2024 Olympic Games ended yesterday, with Team USA topping the charts with 126 medals comprising 40 gold, 44 silver and 42 bronze medals. The United States was closely followed by China, which made 91 medals, including 40 gold, 27 silver and 24 bronze medals.

 Kenya led the African countries on the medals table with four gold, two silver and five bronze medals, followed by Algeria, which got two gold and one bronze medals, while Botswana and Uganda won one gold and one silver medal each.
 
On Friday, Sports Minister, John Owan Enoh, promised to rejig the country’s sports infrastructure to ensure that the country performs better in future competitions.

Meanwhile, the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) has said that despite not winning a medal in Paris, it took some “positives” from the Games. AFN Technical Director, Samuel Onikeku, said yesterday that some of the athletes gave a good account of themselves, though their efforts were not enough to fetch Nigeria medals.

“I am not happy that we are returning from the Paris Olympics without any medal, but I believe we took some positives from the Games,” Onikeku told The Guardian.

In Paris, U.S.-based