Nigeria’s Bobsled Team Makes Olympic History

“This is a canada goose outlet official huge milestone for sports in Nigeria,” 31 year old Seun Adigun, the bobsled team driver and leader, told KwesESPN after the team qualified for the Olympics last November. “Very few even know there is a winter games going on, and even fewer care. None of those I’ve interacted with, online or off, have mentioned the Nigerian team, never mind the Winter Games, even once.”

canada goose uk black friday Nigeria is one of eight Africa countries participating at the games in Pyeongchang, the biggest delegation from the continent at a single Winter Olympics. Nigeria has sent its first winter team canada goose outlet los angeles to these games and the first bobsled team ever from Africa: The trio of Seun Adigun, Ngozi Onwumere and canada goose outlet new york city Akuoma Omeoga. canada goose uk black friday

Canada Goose Coats On Sale The three bobsledders are all runners as well. Adigun, the captain, is no stranger to the Olympics. She represented Nigeria at the 2012 London games in the 100 meter hurdles. Canada Goose Coats On Sale

Canada Goose Jackets In an interview she gave to The New York Times, she says, “In 2014, I watched bobsled for the first time to cheer for friends. I thought, Hmm, I’m getting a little bit of this Olympic fever again.” Canada Goose Jackets

She went to tryouts, did nicely and had the idea of forming the first bobsled team from an African country to go to the Olympics. She set up a GoFundMe campaign in November 2016 to fund her dream. Within 14 months, she raised $150,000, which was covered participation fees, training gears and ice time for practice and also went to establish the first ever Bobsled Skeleton Federation of Nigeria to increase awareness about Winter Games and inspire “a level of pride” for people across the continent.

Canada Goose Outlet Adigun and her canada goose outlet trillium parka black teammates (who alternate as breakmen) are making a big splash in the United States and around the world. They have been signed up by several brands, including Visa, Under Armour, Beats by Dre, Nigerian Breweries and Belgium headquartered Lazer Sports, the world’s oldest brand of sport helmets. Canada Goose Outlet

“Our objective now is to be the best representation of Africa that the Winter Olympics have ever witnessed,” Adigun has said. Adewuyi feels the team’s participation in the Olympics would inspire Nigerians living in colder countries to “dream of representing their parents’ country” in the Winter Olympics.

“There’s now a precedent [and] that is also backed by the creation of the first winter sports federation,” Adewuyi, a 2016 Vladimir Potanin Fellow canada goose jacket outlet uk at the Russian International Olympic University in Sochi, canada goose outlet told NPR’s Goats and Soda blog.

But canada goose outlet in uk then there are those skeptics.

Chiemela Chike, a senior at the University of Nigeria, got to know about the female bobsledders when she stumbled upon their photos on Facebook and Instagram with “detailed captions” describing their historic outing in the Olympics. “They are greatly celebrated,” Chike says. She quickly adds that bobsled was meant for “cold regions, [so] it’s un African.”

“Bobsleigh is foreign to the African soil,” says the 19 year old journalism student.

“I don’t have any idea on this [game], to be sincere,” says James Ojo, a 25 year old fan of the Manchester United soccer team. “It’s kind of strange.”

buy canada goose jacket Though she knows a man who likes the team and revels in “the fact that Nigeria was making history,” Chike says there was no intense enthusiasm about the Nigerian female team in the southeastern Nigerian town of Nsukka where she’s living. “I haven’t heard anyone around me talking about the [bobsled] game,” she adds. buy canada goose jacket

Neither has Agi, who works with the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations in Abuja. He says bobsled “is not so popular in this part of the world” but admits “the success of the team in the Olympics will determine how much of attention people will give the team and the game eventually.”

Adewuyi, who met the three Nigerian American women when they were unveiled as brand ambassadors for a local beer in Lagos, does hope that the team will bring more attention to female athletes in Nigeria, where sports news is dominated by men. Women have always been “a huge part of the success that the country has enjoyed in sports,” so they need to be appreciated and given every support,” he says.

canadian goose jacket “Women have risen to the forefront of Nigerian sport despite being a traditional country where girls are expected to canada goose outlet in toronto marry early in many cultures,” he says. canadian goose jacket

“We have a lot to do to encourage more girls to take up sport and ensure that they find self fulfilment and empowerment.”

But when it comes to the government’s promise to support the canadagooseofficials team, with a chief of mission named to take care of them, some Nigerians are ambivalent. The country is grappling with a struggling economy, threats from the radical Islamist group, Boko Haram and deadly clashes between cattle herders and farming communities that have killed at least 80 this year.

“Spending our funds on this team is unnecessary,” says journalism student Chike, who believes bobsled is “foreign and very expensive.” “I would suggest that other sports that canada goose outlet edmonton can be groomed in Nigeria should be given more attention.”

Canada Goose sale But Agi, the Abuja PR practitioner, disagrees. He feels the team is “worthy of celebration” because it was the first time Nigerian qualified for the Winter Games. Canada Goose sale

canada goose clearance “When you check the effort and determination of the team against all odds,” he says, “you will agree that they deserve the attention.” canada goose clearance

Canada Goose Online As for the team, their televised heats air Tuesday and Wednesday this week. canada goose outlet website legit And I’ll tune in. To me, the story is inspirational a clear testament to the Nigerian spirit Canada Goose Online.