Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

competed at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This was the nation's fifteenth appearance at the Olympics. Nigeria missed the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

because of the African boycott. The Nigerian Olympic Committee sent the nation's smallest delegation to the Games since

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

. A total of 53 athletes, 30 men and 23 women, competed in 8 sports. Men's basketball was the only team-based sport in which Nigeria was represented at these Olympic Games. Among the eight sports played by the athletes, Nigeria marked its official Olympic debut in slalom canoeing. The Nigerian team featured two Olympic medalists from Beijing: taekwondo jin Chika Chukwumerije, who served as the nation's team captain, and long jumper

Blessing Okagbare Blessing Oghnewresem Okagbare-Otegheri (born 9 October 1988) is a former Nigerian track and field athlete who specialized in Long jump and sprints. She is an Olympic and World Championships medalist in the long jump, and a world medalist in th ...

. Table tennis player

Segun Toriola Segun Moses Toriola (born 18 September 1974 in Ilorin, Kwara, Nigeria) is a retired Nigeria professional table tennis player. He is the youngest of nine brothers. Since 1995 he has been ranked as the best Nigerian player. He has been amongst t ...

, the oldest member of the team, at age 37, became the first Nigerian athlete to compete in six Olympic games. Toriola's fellow table tennis player

Olufunke Oshonaike Olufunke Oshonaike, also known as Funke Oshonaike (born 28 April 1974) is a professional Nigeria table tennis player based in Hamburg, Germany. She competed for Nigeria at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Oshonaike started her playing career on a str ...

made her fifth Olympic appearance, making her the nation's oldest and most experienced female athlete. Freestyle wrestler

Sinivie Boltic Sinivie Boltic (born 2 July 1982 in Famgbe, Nigeria) is a Nigerian wrestler who competed in the freestyle 96 kg event at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He was the flag bearer of Nigeria during the opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand openin ...

was Nigeria's first male flag bearer at the opening ceremony since

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

. Nigeria failed to win a single medal for the first time in Olympic history since

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

, after achieving poor athletic performance at these Games. Triple jumper

Tosin Oke Oluwatosin Bamidele “Tosin” Oke (born 1 October 1980 in London, England) is a Nigerian track and field athlete, who competes in the triple jump. Born a dual national, he initially competed for Great Britain. He set the current UK junior indo ...

, the women's sprint relay team (led by Blessing Okagbare), and weightlifter Felix Ekpo qualified successfully for the final rounds of their respective events, but missed out of the medal standings. Following the athletes' lackluster performance, President

Goodluck Jonathan Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan (born 20 November 1957)Lawson Heyford, ''The Source'' (Lagos), 11 December 2006. is a Nigerian politician who served as the President of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015. He lost the 2015 presidential election to fo ...

"called for a complete overhaul of Nigerian sports administration". A few weeks after the Olympics, the

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...

athletes, however, were able to recapture the nation's sporting success at the Paralympics, as they had earned a total of twelve medals, including six golds.

Athletics

Nigerian athletes have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event at the 'A' Standard, and 1 at the 'B' Standard): ;Men ;Track & road events ;Field events ;Women ;Track & road events ;Field events ;Combined events –

Heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hept ...

Basketball

Men's tournament

;Roster ;Group play

Boxing

Nigeria has so far qualified boxers for the following events ;Men ;Women

Canoeing

Slalom

Nigeria has qualified boats for the following events

Table tennis

Nigeria has so far qualified two men and two women.

Taekwondo

Nigeria has qualified 2 athletes.

Weightlifting

Nigeria has qualified the following quota places.

Wrestling

Nigeria has qualified the following quota places. ;Men's freestyle ;Women's freestyle

References

External links

{{Nations at the 2012 Summer Olympics Nations at the 2012 Summer Olympics

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

2012 in Nigerian sport