Finally, after a year of delay, the Tokyo Olympics is finally now underway. The opening ceremony was an extremely proud moment for all the countries taking part, and one of Nigeria’s flagbearers, wrestler Odunayo Adekuoroye, was thrilled to lead her country into the tournament in the athletes’ parade, as  reported here. What with all the excitement at the two-weeks of sport taking place, we thought it would be a great time to have a quick look back at Nigeria’s honoured history in the summer Olympics. 

The Olympics, themselves, originated as long as 3,000 years ago in Greece. The Games were held every four years from the 8th century B.C. to the 4th century A.D. in Olympia, in honour of their god, Zeus. The competition was revived with the 1896 Olympics in Athens, which featured only twelve countries; compare this to Rio 2016, where a staggering 206 nations took part. 

The initial Olympic games that Nigeria took part in, was the 1952 Helsinki Olympics in Finland, where several of our athletes competed in track and field events. The best result in that debut was by long-jumper Josiah Majekodunmi, who managed to come an impressive ninth. Since then, Nigeria has sent competitors to every summer Olympics, except for Montreal 1976, where they boycotted along with twenty-nine other African countries, due to the Olympic committee refusing to ban New Zealand after its rugby team had toured South Africa.   

The first ever Olympic medal that Nigeria won was at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics (which is, hopefully, a good sign of all the medals to come in Tokyo this year). It was won by the boxer Nojim Maiyegun, who captured the bronze medal in the men’s Light Middleweight category. The first silver medal was also won by a boxer, Peter Konyegwachie, who finished second in the men’s Featherweight category at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. 

The country had to wait until the 1996 Atlanta Olympics to taste their first gold, but what a set of stories it was. Chioma Ajunwa was the first Nigerian to win the coveted gold medal, and it came in the long-jump. Ajunwa was originally a football player and actually played as a member of the Nigerian women’s team, who are nicknamed the ‘The Falcons’, at the 1991 World Cup. Yet, Ajunwa, wasn’t content with just being a top athlete at one sport, and so also competed in track and field. She won the gold with a leap of 7.12 metres in the women’s long-jump, and the winning jump was actually her first attempt during the final. A stunning achievement, and she is still Nigeria’s only individual Olympic gold medalist. 

During that same Olympic games, the men’s football team, managed to defy the odds and take home the gold in, what The-Sun.com recently reported as, one of the five most memorable moments in Olympic football history. Even though The Super Eagles squad was stacked with talented players, such as Jay-Jay Okocha, Celestine Babayaro and Nwankwo Kanu, they weren’t expected to go all the way. 

Things started slowly in the group-stage, where they only managed to score a single goal from open-play. Yet, this was enough for them to advance to the knockout stages, where they comprehensively swept aside Mexico 2-0, before meeting and defeating the two South-American juggernauts of football, Brazil and then Argentina in the semi-final and then final. The photos of the whole team celebrating with the shiny gold medals round their necks is burnt into the identity of Nigerian sport and remains one of its proudest moments.  

Unfortunately, Nigeria won’t be competing at the football in the Tokyo Olympics this year, but the favourites for the gold are Brazil, who are priced at 2/1 with the best betting sites. If you wanted to take a punt on the football at the Olympics or any other sport, then SBO.net have got you covered. They’ve cut through the noise of the internet to put together an extensive list of the greatest online bookmakers available. Plus, they have all the top enhanced odds and most generous sign-up offers, so you know you’re getting the best deals around. So, all you have to worry about, after you’ve made your choice, is enjoying the sporting action of the Olympics.