Nigeria was winning the Olympic women’s bobsled race.
Yes, really. That sentence is 100 percent accurate — albeit with some massive reservations.
The Nigerians were the second sled down the track in the opening heat of the women’s competition at the Pyeongchang Olympics, and over the first few turns of the course, they were actually going along faster than the South Korean sled that preceded them.
Photo: AFP
So yes, they were winning.
“I know!” pilot Seun Adigun shouted afterward, overjoyed by the notion.
Of course, after that quick flirtation with the lead, their sled bounced off the roof and commenced their freefall to last place.
Briefly leading and finishing last, none of that was the point on Tuesday night.
Simply getting to the Olympics has been victory enough for this Nigerian team, three women who live in the US and played other sports before deciding to try sliding — and now are the first bobsled to represent Africa on the sport’s biggest stage.
“There were some good things,” Adigun said. “One of the biggest things that we’re trying to do from the beginning is show people how important it is to be selfless and what it means to also do something bigger than yourself, and I think that that right there has been the objective and what people have been able to receive from our time here at the Olympics.”
They have been rock stars at these Olympics for all the right reasons. Athletes of all sorts have wanted hugs and selfies, which is all the vindication the Nigerians have needed to show that this foray was worthwhile.
“It’s great to see that,” US bobsledder and 2014 bronze medalist Aja Evans said of the added diversity Nigeria’s presence brings to a sliding world that has seen plenty of athletes of color make serious splashes over the past couple decades. “The world’s finally catching up and realizing the potential all across the board. It’s amazing to be a part of that.”
There is what is known as a “mixed zone” for reporter-athlete interaction at the Olympics, a space where athletes parade past electronic and print media for a series of interviews after their events.
When the Nigerians were done on Tuesday night, the overwhelming majority of the media contingent left with them — long before the leaders of the race showed up for their interviews.
“When people talk about sports right now, they’re talking about bobsled,” Nigeria brakeman Aduoma Omeoga said.
Most, it seems, are talking about Nigerian bobsled.
“We still are trying to cope with it,” Adigun said. “We like to be more low-key, but we know that when we came into this whole process it was to bring awareness. If people are excited about that, we can’t now revert back and get into our shell.”
There is a long way to go before they are competitive. Every sled that qualified for the Olympics could take six official training runs in Pyeongchang over the past few days, and Nigeria beat none of them in those training runs.
However, the improvement could be seen even over the course of those six minutes or so on the ice. Nigeria was 3.07 seconds behind the leader in the first training run. By the sixth and final training run, the margin between first and last was down to 1.69 seconds.
That is significant improvement and been the point of giving teams like Nigeria the chance to qualify and compete at the Olympics. Having them in the Games might plant the seeds for something good to happen years from now.
“This is such a learning curve for us being here,” Adigun said. “We have to start somewhere.”
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