For the first time in its history, Nigeria will compete at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang and it’s all thanks to the women’s bobsled team.
Led by driver Seun Adigun and her teammates — Ngozi Onwumere and Akuoma Omeoga — the bobsled team qualified in Canada after completing the fifth of the required five races. The team is the first African team to qualify in the bobsled category.
Seun Adigun told KweséESPN, “This is a huge milestone for sports in Nigeria. Nothing makes me prouder than to know that I can play a small role in creating opportunities for winter sports to take place in Nigeria. Our objective now is to be the best representation of Africa that the Winter Olympics have ever witnessed.”
Adigun is a former African 100m hurdles champion and 2012 summer Olympian. Last year, the team raised $75K through GoFundMe to make getting to the competition possible.
The President of the Bobsled and Skeleton Federation of Nigeria, Solomon Ogba was thrilled at the team’s qualification.
“Their hard work was inspiring and I hope Nigerians can appreciate what it took for them to achieve this – the work, the discipline, and the personal sacrifices. They were amazing throughout this journey. “I have watched them train and work hard to represent Nigeria at the Winter Olympics in a very technical and high risk sport and they have achieved that. They should be very proud, and I am very proud of them.”