Big flop in Beijing

Nigeria’s performances at the ongoing IAAF World Championships in Beijing have generated controversies and attracted criticisms back home following the failure of the athletes to get anywhere close to winning medals. The closest any of them got was the eighth-place finish by Africa’s fastest women, Blessing Okagbare, but that had its reasons.

Before Francis Obikwelu and Gloria Alozie dumped Nigeria for Portugal and Spain respectively, they etched their names in history books as the last athletes to win medals for Nigeria at the World Championships in Seville, Spain, in 1999.

Obikwelu had won bronze, while Alozie took silver. After them, there was nothing for Nigeria until 14 years later when Okagbare won bronze in 2013 in Moscow.

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Okagbare’s blazing performances since the start of the athletics season reignited hope that Nigeria would be back on the podium again, but a hamstring injury would not allow that. After leading in the preliminary races, she ended up finishing in eighth place in 11.02 seconds.

It was like history repeating itself as her traumatic experience in the past week could be likened to her outing at the London 2012 Olympics.

Her hope of winning a medal was further dashed when the hamstring injury stopped her from showing up for the women’s 200m event.

She was not the only one with sad tales to tell as, Tosin Oke leapt 16.81 metres in his third attempt to place eighth in the men’s triple jump, a performance far behind his personal best of 17.23, which he set in Calabar in 2012 on his way to the London Olympics. He had jumped 16.77 in his first attempt in Beijing.

Miles Ukaoma was fifth in Heat 3 of the 400m hurdles, finishing in 49.38 seconds, but did not qualify for the semi-finals. Belgium’s Michaël Bultheel, who finished sixth in same time as Ukaoma in Heat 5, however, advanced to the semis. And China’s Wen Cheng also advanced despite finishing fourth in Heat 4 in 49.56, which was his personal best.

Ukaoma’s case was the cause of confusion and controversy for the Nigerian officials in Beijing.

In the women’s 400m hurdles, Amaka Ogoegbunam was seventh in Heat 5, finishing in 58.16 secs, while Tega Odele was overwhelmed in the men’s 200m heat as he finished sixth in 20.49 secs.

Lindsay Lindley Weyime also failed to shine in the women’s 100m hurdles, finishing sixth in her heat in 13.30 secs.

The trio in the women’s 400m also failed to shine. While Regina George (51.74) and Tosin Adeloye (52.42) could not advance to the semi-finals, Patience Okon-George posted a personal best of 50.76 in the semi-finals, but it was not good enough to land her in the final.

Doreen Amata topped the women’s high jump qualifying list with 1.92 metres, 8 centimetres short of her PB. She will compete in the final today.

Ihuoma Osazuwa could not knock off her competitors at the top of the women’s heptathlon ladder, but she posted a PB in the heptathlon 800m in 2:21.36.

However, Nigeria still have a ray of hope in the women’s 4x400m relay team. The team’s season best remains 3:30.88, which puts them as one of the favourites for the final as they compete against Russia, Canada, Jamaica, China, Australia, Romania and Poland in the heat.

Without the injured Okagbare, Nigeria’s chances of winning a medal in the women’s 4x100m has become slimmer. The team face China, Italy, Britain, Jamaica, Russia, Canada and Poland in the race for the final ticket.

The final of the women’s 4x100m is slated for today, while the final of the women’s 4x400m holds on sunday.

Athletics coach, Tobias Igwe, believes the results in Beijing are a reflection of the level of Nigeria’s preparation for the championships.

“Whatever you sow is what you will reap,” Toblow, as he is fondly called, said in a telephone interview on Friday.

“The athletes didn’t have enough preparation because there was no money to camp them long enough ahead of the championships.

“Okagbare was injured before the World Championships; that was why she couldn’t come for the national trials in Warri. But she ran with the injury in the women’s 100m and it cost her the race.

“Okon-George finished in 50 seconds, which is her PB, but that can never be good enough for a medal at the World Championships.

“We used to have up to five months stay in camp, but now we only have at most two months to camp athletes. The Federal Government has not shown interest in athletics the way they should, as they did in the past. If not for (the Athletic Federation Nigeria president), Solomon Ogba, who has a passion for the sport, it would have further degenerated than what we have now.

“Unfortunately, many of our athletes are declining. The best thing to do to address this problem is to have junior athletes’ camps that will have qualified coaches to train the athletes. We have to use some schools as pilot institutions in getting athletes at the grassroots.”

Former hurdler, Henry Amike, said he was not surprised that none of the athletes made it to the podium as he echoed Toblow’s position on the neglect by the government.

“I’m not shocked by Nigeria’s poor performance. It was almost expected. How can we expect to excel when the Federal Government is not involved in our national championships. As far as I’m concerned, i think we deserved what we got,” Amike said.

“To me, it has become clear that the country does not appreciate athletics. There’s always government interference in football in terms of funding or corporate sponsorship, but you don’t get that in athletics.

“Athletics is a top sport, but in Nigeria football has taken over everything. It’s most unfortunate that we struggled to host this year’s national championships. The championships were supposed to hold in Calabar, but when the Cross River State Government was not committed to hosting the events, Abuja was considered. But Abuja also could not host it because of paucity of fund. Delta State eventually agreed to host even with the little fund available. I think we deserve the poor showing.

“The result at the Rio 2016 Olympics is dependent on how well the athletes prepare now. If we want to win anything at the Olympics, we must start preparation now; government must encourage the athletes, sponsors should be willing to help with funding.

“It takes a lot to be a super star; it’s not a one-day event when it comes to preparing for the World Championships. Nobody cared for the athletes in the past one year, or months prior to the World Championships. It was only when the championships were close that a few people started showing up. That should not be the case. The athletes need the government, individual and corporate sponsorships.

“Every one of those medallists at the World Championships has sponsorship prior to the event. That is the reason they excel consistently at international events.”