Team Nigeria faced a setback in their pursuit of a medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on Tuesday as two medal prospects failed to live up to the expectation.
Favour Ofili’s performance in the women’s 200m final and Blessing Oborududu’s loss in the bronze medal match of the women’s 68kg freestyle wrestling left Team Nigeria without a medal four days to the end of the tournament.
In the women’s 200m final, Ofili finished sixth with a time of 22.24s, as USA’s Gabby Thomas clinched the gold with a time of 21.83s. Julie Alfred secured second place with a time of 22.08s, while Brittany Brown claimed the third spot with a time of 22.20s.
Despite running a new season’s best of 22.05s in the event and making it to the final, Ofili was unable to secure a medal.
On the other hand, Blessing Oborududu lost 3-0 in the bronze medal match of the women’s 68kg freestyle wrestling to Japan’s Nonoka Ozaki. This came after her narrow 3-1 defeat to Kyrgyzstan’s Meerim Zhumanazarova in the semi-finals the previous night.
With the disappointment in these events, Team Nigeria’s hopes now hinge on women’s 100m hurdles record holder, Tobi Amusan, who qualified for the semi-finals of the event earlier today, August 7, 2024.
The team is also looking to other athletes competing in athletics, weightlifting, and wrestling to secure medals for the country as the 2024 Olympics ends on August 11.
