Julius OkorieWorld record holder in the 100m hurdles Tobi Amusan, has been named Nigeria’s flag bearer to opening ceremony of the 33rd Olympics in France on Friday.
Amusan, who remains one of the nation’s biggest medals hopeful thus becomes the first athlete from the track and field team to hold the honour in 20 years following the footsteps of Mary Onyali who held the position at the Athens Olympics in 2004.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelAmusan is the current world record holder in the 100 metres hurdles with a time of 12.12 seconds which she set at the 2022 women’s 100 metres hurdles semi-final in Eugene Oregon.
She is the current Commonwealth and African champion in the 100m hurdles, as well as the meet record holder in those two competitions.
She became the first ever Nigerian world champion and world record holder in an athletics event when she won the 2022 World Championships 100 m hurdles gold medal, setting the current world record of 12.12 seconds (+0.9 m/s) in the semi-final, followed up by a 12.06 seconds (+2.5 m/s) in the final.
In the same vein, the NOC has announced announced badminton player, Anuoluwapo Opeyori, as the General Team Captain for Nigeria in Paris.
Opeyori won the African Championships and African Games in the singles event in 2019. He also won gold in the men’s single at the 2023 African Games, and a silver medal in the men’s single at Accra 2023. He was in Tokyo 2020 to compete at the Summer Olympics for the first time.
Congratulating the two athletes on their appointments, Minister of Sports Senator John Owan Enoh, expressed optimism that their leadership will ginger success at this year’s Olympics where Team Nigeria is hoping to better her dismal outing in 2020 in Tokyo finishing with just a Silver and a Bronze.
“Tobi Amusan and Anuoluwapo Opeyori have shown exceptional dedication and commitment to their sports. Their leadership will be invaluable to Team Nigeria as we aim for success at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games” enthused the sports minister, adding “Having Tobi Amusan as our flag bearer is a testament to her hard work, resilience, and outstanding achievements in athletics. Her journey is an inspiration to many young Nigerians. Similarly, Anuoluwapo Opeyori’s role as General Team Captain reflects his leadership qualities and the respect he commands among his peers. We believe their roles will galvanize our team and foster a spirit of unity and determination.”
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The Super Falcons will be the first of the Team Nigeria to begin the quest for medal in Paris as they take on Brazil Thursday July 25 in one of the opening matches of the Women football event.
The Falcons are making a comeback after featuring last at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. The team’s best outing was at the 2004 edition in Athens where they made it to the quarterfinals.
The Randy Waldrum tutored side will confront Brazil, Spain and Japan in their quest to advance from the group.
Full matches lined up for Thursday are as follows:
Canada vs. New Zealand (Saint-Étienne; 5 p.m. CET / 11 a.m. ET)
France vs. Colombia (Décines-Charpieu; 9 p.m. CET / 3 p.m. ET)
Germany vs. Australia (Marseille; 7 p.m. CET / 1 p.m. ET)
United States vs. Zambia (Nice; 9 p.m. CET / 3 p.m. ET)
Spain vs. Japan (Nantes; 5 p.m. CET / 11 a.m. ET)
Nigeria vs. Brazil (Bordeaux; 7 p.m. CET / 1 p.m. ET)
Julius Okorie is Chief Sports and Entertainment Correspondent for Prime Business Africa. He began his journalism career with the Champion Newspaper and Sporting Champion and later moved on to Daily Independent and the Nation Newspapers. Okorie joined Prime Business Africa in 2024 bringing on board 20 years of experience in writing investigative news on Sports and Entertainment. His well researched and highly informative articles on Sports Business and general entertainment are followed by a wide range of audience.
