Nigeria’s first Olympic cyclist, Ese Lovina Ukpeseraye, has revealed how she was pushed into early retirement by Nigerian sports officials following the public outcry that greeted her outing at the Paris 2024 Olympics, where she ‘borrowed’ a bike to compete.

Two years ago, Ukpeseraye made history as Nigeria’s first-ever Olympic cyclist. She arrived in France without the most basic requirement of her discipline, a track bicycle. With no provision made by Nigerian officials, salvation came her way from the German team, which loaned her a bike to race.

The image of a Nigerian Olympian borrowing bike from another country went viral, triggering global debate about sports administration in Nigeria. While former Sports Minister, John Owen-Eno, and other Nigerian officials said then that Ukpeseraye’s situation owe to late qualification and equipment logistics, the athlete maintained that no serious effort was made on her behalf.

Despite the chaos, Ukpeseraye lined up on the track and competed with pride, finishing sixth in the Keirin first round. However, her punishment began soon after the Paris 2024 Olympics ended. “After the Paris 2024 Olympics, the Cycling Federation deprived me of competitions I was supposed to attend,” she told Sports247.

“The antics and theatrics were part of what prevented me from returning back to my club and blocked so many opportunities simply because I refused to come out publicly to apologise to them. I believe they should be the one apologising to me,” she emphasised.

According to Ukpeseraye, the fallout went beyond words, alleging that allowances from her last international assignment were withheld despite enduring difficult conditions throughout preparations.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Ukpeseraye revealed she missed key events because officials failed to make travel arrangements.

“Unfortunately, those responsible for my travel arrangements did not fulfill their obligations. As a result, I was unable to defend my title,” she wrote.

One of such episodes, according to her, was a pre-competition camp for the African Nations Cycling Championship in Egypt, where athletes reportedly received ₦3,000 for feeding per day with zero camp allowance.

Travel arrangements, she recalled, were equally harrowing. “We had to go by road from Abuja to Lagos, slept on bare floors at the Lagos airport, and wait endlessly to connect flights to Egypt,” she said.

“Despite being ranked number one in Africa, I could not attend the World Championships in Zurich or the African Championships in Kenya,” she alleged.

According to Sports247, for an athlete at the peak of her powers, the isolation was devastating, as titles went undefended, rankings slipped, and opportunities vanished not due to injury or loss of form, but because access was cut off.

The report further stated that by early this year (2026), the strain had become unbearable for Ukpeseraye, forcing her to announced retirement, citing sustained neglect, lack of funding, and emotional exhaustion brought on by her relationship with the Nigeria Cycling Federation.

“There are a lot of frustrating moments since the Olympics that I don’t even want to talk about,” she said.

“To save my life and live a stress-free life, I had to quit. At least the troubles are over,” she said.

Her exit closes a historic chapter for Nigerian cycling, but left behind troubling questions.

“How does a nation treat a trailblazer who carried its flag onto the Olympic track for the first time? And what does her story say to the next generation dreaming of wearing green and white on the world’s biggest stage?

For Ese Ukpeseraye, the medals never came, but her legacy, forged in resilience and sacrifice, may yet force a reckoning.

No official of the Nigeria Cycling Federation was ready to speak on the issue, when The Guardian called, but what appears a relief for the cyclist seems to be underway, if a declaration by the Director General of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Chief Bukola Olopade, is anything to go by.

“I am on it, and we will resolve it,” Olopade said in his response to The Guardian