Nigeria at the 2020 Summer Olympics

Nigeria competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.^[1] Since the nation made its debut in 1952, Nigerian athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games, with the exception of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal because of the African boycott.

Nigeria at the 2020 Summer Olympics
IOC code	NGR
NOC	Nigeria Olympic Committee
Website	www.nigeriaolympiccommittee.org
in Tokyo, Japan July 23, 2021 (2021-07-23) – August 8, 2021 (2021-08-08)
Competitors	55 in 10 sports
Flag bearers (opening)	Odunayo Adekuoroye Quadri Aruna
Flag bearer (closing)	Odunayo Adekuoroye
Medals Ranked 74th	Gold 0 Silver 1 Bronze 1 Total 2
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024

Medalists

Further information: 2020 Summer Olympics medal table and List of 2020 Summer Olympics medal winners

Medal	Name	Sport	Event	Date
Silver	Blessing Oborududu	Wrestling	Women's freestyle 68 kg	August 3
Bronze	Ese Brume	Athletics	Women's long jump	August 3

Competitors

The following is the list of number of Nigerian competitors in the Games.

Sport	Men	Women	Total
Athletics	7	7	14
Badminton	2	1	3
Basketball	12	12	24
Canoeing	0	1	1
Gymnastics	1	0	1
Rowing	0	1	1
Swimming	0	1	1
Table tennis	2	2	4
Taekwondo	0	1	1
Wrestling	1	4	5
Total	25	30	55

Summary

Mass disqualification of Nigerian athletes

On 28 July 2021, the Athletics Integrity Unit announced that Nigeria had failed to meet the minimum drug testing requirements as per "Rule 15", which requires at least three no-notice outside of competition blood and urine drug tests no less than three weeks apart for 10 of their athletes. As such, all 10 athletes were disqualified from participating in their events.^[2] Those disqualified included Rosemary Chukwuma, Annette Echikunwoke, Favour Ofili, Chidi Okezie, Chioma Onyekwere, and Ruth Usoro.^[3]

Doping

On 31 July 2021 the Athletics Integrity Unit announced that Blessing Okagbare was provisionally suspended following a positive doping test for Human Growth Hormone from a sample collected outside of competition on 19 July 2021.^[4]

Athletics

Main articles: Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics and Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Qualification

Nigerian athletes further achieved the entry standards, either by qualifying time or by world ranking, in the following track and field events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event):^[5][6]

Key

• Note–Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only
• Q = Qualified for the next round
• q = Qualified for the next round as a fastest loser or, in field events, by position without achieving the qualifying target
• NR = National record
• N/A = Round not applicable for the event
• Bye = Athlete not required to compete in round

Track & road events

Men

Athlete	Event	Heat		Quarterfinal		Semifinal		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Enoch Adegoke	100 m	Bye		9.98 PB	1 Q	10.00	2 Q	DNF
Usheoritse Itsekiri		Bye		10.15	3 Q	10.29	7	Did not advance
Divine Oduduru	100 m	Bye		DSQ		Did not advance
	200 m	20.36	2 Q	—		20.16	3	Did not advance

Women

Athlete	Event	Heat		Quarterfinal		Semifinal		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Nzubechi Grace Nwokocha	100 m	Bye		11.00 PB	3 Q	11.07	5	Did not advance
Blessing Okagbare		Bye		11.05	1 Q	DNS		Did not advance
Nzubechi Grace Nwokocha	200 m	22.47 PB	3 Q	—		22.47 PB	4	Did not advance
Patience Okon George	400 m	52.41	7	—		Did not advance
Tobi Amusan	100 m hurdles	12.72	1 Q	—		12.62	1 Q	12.60	4
Tobi Amusan Ese Brume Patience Okon George Nzubechi Grace Nwokocha	4 × 100 m relay	43.25	6	—				did not advance

Mixed

Athlete	Event	Heat		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Patience Okon George Samson Oghenewegba Nathaniel Ifeanyi Emmanuel Ojeli Imaobong Nse Uko	4 × 400 m relay	3:13.60 AR	7	Did not advance

Field events

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
		Distance	Position	Distance	Position
Chukwuebuka Enekwechi	Men's shot put	21.16	7 q	19.74	12
Ese Brume	Women's long jump	6.76	6 Q	6.97

Badminton

Main articles: Badminton at the 2020 Summer Olympics and Badminton at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Qualification

Nigeria entered three badminton players for each of the following events into the Olympic tournament. Godwin Olofua and Anuoluwapo Juwon Opeyori (men's doubles), with Dorcas Ajoke Adesokan on the women's side, topped the field of badminton players from Africa to lock the places on the Nigerian squad in their respective events based on the BWF Race to Tokyo Rankings.^[7]

Athlete	Event	Group stage				Elimination	Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Final / BM
		Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Dorcas Ajoke Adesokan	Women's singles	Azurmendi (ESP) L (10–21, 2–21)	An S-y (KOR) L (3–21, 6–21)	—	3	Did not advance
Godwin Olofua Anuoluwapo Juwon Opeyori	Men's doubles	Endo / Watanabe (JPN) L (2–21, 7–21)	Astrup / Rasmussen (DEN) L (7–21, 10–21)	Ivanov / Sozonov (ROC) L (8–21, 10–21)	4	—	Did not advance

Basketball

Main article: Basketball at the 2020 Summer Olympics

Summary

Team	Event	Group stage				Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Final / BM
		Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Nigeria men's	Men's tournament	Australia L 65–84	Germany L 92–99	Italy L 71–80	4	did not advance
Nigeria women's	Women's tournament	United States L 72–81	France L 62–87	Japan L 83–102	4	Did not advance

Men's tournament

Main article: Basketball at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament

Nigeria men's basketball team qualified for the Olympics as the highest-ranked African squad at the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China.^[8][9]

Team roster

A 15-player roster was announced on 6 July 2021.^[10] The final squad was released on 20 July 2021.^[11]

Nigeria national basketball team roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. F 0 KZ Okpala 22 – (1999-04-28)28 April 1999 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Miami Heat G 3 Caleb Agada 26 – (1994-08-31)31 August 1994 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Hapoel Be'er Sheva PF 8 Ekpe Udoh 34 – (1987-05-20)20 May 1987 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Virtus Bologna F 10 Chimezie Metu 24 – (1997-03-22)22 March 1997 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) Sacramento Kings SG 11 Obi Emegano 28 – (1993-04-29)29 April 1993 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) Fuenlabrada G 13 Miye Oni 23 – (1997-08-04)4 August 1997 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Utah Jazz C 15 Jahlil Okafor 25 – (1995-12-15)15 December 1995 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Detroit Pistons G 20 Josh Okogie 22 – (1998-09-01)1 September 1998 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Minnesota Timberwolves G 22 Gabe Vincent 25 – (1996-06-14)14 June 1996 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Miami Heat F 33 Jordan Nwora 22 – (1998-09-09)9 September 1998 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Milwaukee Bucks G 34 Ike Nwamu 28 – (1993-06-03)3 June 1993 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Samara PF 55 Precious Achiuwa 21 – (1999-09-19)19 September 1999 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Miami Heat	Head coach Mike Brown[12] Assistant coach(es) Jordi Fernández Alexander Nwora Legend Club – describes last club before the tournament Age – describes age on 25 July 2021

Group play

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Australia	3	3	0	259	226	+33	6	Quarterfinals
2	Italy	3	2	1	255	239	+16	5
3	Germany	3	1	2	257	273	−16	4
4	Nigeria	3	0	3	230	263	−33	3

Source: TOCOG and FIBA
Rules for classification: 1) classification points; 2) head-to-head results; 3) head-to-head game points difference; 4) head-to-head number of game points scored.

25 July 2021 (2021-07-25) 17:20 v

Boxscore

Australia	84–67	Nigeria
Scoring by quarter: 23–23, 20–17, 15–12, 26–15
Pts: Mills 25 Rebs: Kay 8 Asts: Mills 6		Pts: Emegano 12 Rebs: Achiuwa 6 Asts: Agada, Okogie 3

Saitama Super Arena, Saitama Referees: Ademir Zurapović (BIH), Luis Castillo (ESP), Takaki Kato (JPN)

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28 July 2021 (2021-07-28) 10:00 v

Boxscore

Nigeria	92–99	Germany
Scoring by quarter: 21–24, 29–26, 24–24, 18–25
Pts: Nwora 33 Rebs: Nwora 7 Asts: Emegano 6		Pts: Voigtmann 19 Rebs: Thiemann 10 Asts: Lô 9

Saitama Super Arena, Saitama Referees: Omar Bermúdez (MEX), Mārtiņš Kozlovskis (LAT), Rabah Noujaim (LIB)

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31 July 2021 (2021-07-31) 13:40 v

Boxscore

Italy	80–71	Nigeria
Scoring by quarter: 29–17, 11–22, 16–24, 24–8
Pts: Melli 15 Rebs: Vitali 6 Asts: Fontecchio, Pajola 4		Pts: Metu 22 Rebs: Metu 10 Asts: Metu 3

Saitama Super Arena, Saitama Referees: Antonio Conde (ESP), Roberto Vázquez (PUR), Takaki Kato (JPN)

Women's tournament

Main article: Basketball at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament

Nigeria women's basketball team qualified for the Olympics as one of two highest-ranked eligible squads from group A at the Belgrade meet of the 2020 FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament, marking the country's recurrence to the sporting event after 16 years.^[13]

Team roster

A 15-player roster was announced on 6 July 2021.^[14] The final roster was released on 19 July 2021.^[15]

Nigeria national basketball team – 2020 Summer Olympics roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. F 0 Amy Okonkwo 24 – (1996-08-26)26 August 1996 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Uni Girona CB C 3 Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpannah 23 – (1997-07-12)12 July 1997 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Faenza Basket Project G 4 Elizabeth Balogun 20 – (2000-09-09)9 September 2000 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Louisville Cardinals F 9 Aisha Mohammed 35 – (1985-10-21)21 October 1985 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Bashkimi Prizren PG 10 Promise Amukamara 28 – (1993-06-22)22 June 1993 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) Charnay BB F 11 Adaora Elonu 31 – (1990-04-28)28 April 1990 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Nadezhda Orenburg PF 21 Atonye Nyingifa 30 – (1990-12-08)8 December 1990 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) CB Isla Única C 22 Oderah Chidom 26 – (1995-07-09)9 July 1995 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Angers PG 23 Ezinne Kalu 29 – (1992-06-26)26 June 1992 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) Landerneau BB C 25 Victoria Macaulay 30 – (1990-08-07)7 August 1990 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Bursa G 31 Erica Ogwumike 23 – (1997-09-26)26 September 1997 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) Free agent SF 52 Ify Ibekwe 31 – (1989-10-05)5 October 1989 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Free agent	Head coach Otis Hughley Jr.[16] Assistant coach(es) Roosevelt Cochran Jessie Kenlaw Legend Club – describes last club before the tournament Age – describes age on 26 July 2021

Group play

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	United States	3	3	0	260	223	+37	6	Quarterfinals
2	Japan (H)	3	2	1	245	239	+6	5
3	France	3	1	2	239	229	+10	4
4	Nigeria	3	0	3	217	270	−53	3

Source: TOCOG and FIBA
Rules for classification: 1) classification points; 2) head-to-head results; 3) head-to-head game points difference; 4) head-to-head number of game points scored.
(H) Hosts

27 July 2021 (2021-07-27) 13:40 v

Boxscore

Nigeria	72–81	United States
Scoring by quarter: 20–17, 12–27, 18–26, 22–11
Pts: Kalu 16 Rebs: Kunaiyi-Akpannah 9 Asts: Amukamara 4		Pts: Wilson 19 Rebs: Wilson 13 Asts: Bird 13

Saitama Super Arena, Saitama Referees: Yu Jung (TPE), Scott Beker (AUS), Gizella Györgyi (NOR)

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30 July 2021 (2021-07-30) 17:20 v

Boxscore

France	87–62	Nigeria
Scoring by quarter: 18–12, 26–15, 23–15, 20–20
Pts: Gruda 14 Rebs: Gruda, Williams 9 Asts: Duchet 5		Pts: Amukamara 11 Rebs: three players 4 Asts: Amukamara, Kalu 3

Saitama Super Arena, Saitama Referees: Scott Beker (AUS), Luis Castillo (ESP), Samir Abaakil (MAR)

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2 August 2021 (2021-08-02) 10:00 v

Boxscore

Nigeria	83–102	Japan
Scoring by quarter: 22–30, 16–21, 19–33, 26–18
Pts: Macaulay 18 Rebs: Chidom, Elonu 7 Asts: Nyingifa 8		Pts: Hayashi 23 Rebs: Akaho 7 Asts: Machida 15

Saitama Super Arena, Saitama Referees: Juan Fernández (ARG), Andreia Silva (BRA), Yevgeniy Mikheyev (KAZ)

Canoeing

Main articles: Canoeing at the 2020 Summer Olympics and Canoeing at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Qualification

Sprint

Nigeria qualified a single boat (women's C-1 200 m) for the Games by winning the gold medal at the 2019 African Games in Rabat, Morocco, marking the country's Olympic debut in this sporting discipline.^[17]

Athlete	Event	Heats		Quarterfinals		Semifinals		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Ayomide Emmanuel Bello	Women's C-1 200 m	47.539	3 QF	47.326	3	Did not advance

Qualification Legend: FA = Qualify to final (medal); FB = Qualify to final B (non-medal)

Gymnastics

Main articles: Gymnastics at the 2020 Summer Olympics and Gymnastics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Qualification

Artistic

Nigeria entered one artistic gymnast into the Olympic competition. Uche Eke booked a spot in the men's individual all-around and apparatus events by winning the bronze medal at the 2021 African Gymnastics Championships in Cairo, Egypt.^[18] This marks the country's Olympic debut in gymnastics.^[19]

Men

Athlete	Event	Qualification								Final
		Apparatus						Total	Rank	Apparatus						Total	Rank
		F	PH	R	V	PB	HB			F	PH	R	V	PB	HB
Uche Eke	All-around	12.833	12.866	11.900	13.433	12.233	11.500	74.765	58	Did not advance

Rowing

Main articles: Rowing at the 2020 Summer Olympics and Rowing at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Qualification

Nigeria qualified one boat in the women's single sculls for the Games by finishing third in the B-final and securing the last of five berths available at the 2019 FISA African Olympic Qualification Regatta in Tunis, Tunisia.^[20]

Athlete	Event	Heats		Repechage		Quarterfinals		Semifinals		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Esther Toko	Women's single sculls	8:58.49	5 R	9:07.54	4 SE/F	Bye		9:07.70	3 FE	8:42.78	30

Qualification Legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); FC=Final C (non-medal); FD=Final D (non-medal); FE=Final E (non-medal); FF=Final F (non-medal); SA/B=Semifinals A/B; SC/D=Semifinals C/D; SE/F=Semifinals E/F; QF=Quarterfinals; R=Repechage

Swimming

Main articles: Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics and Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Qualification

Nigeria received a universality invitation from FINA to send a top-ranked female swimmer in her respective individual events to the Olympics, based on the FINA Points System of June 28, 2021.^[21]

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Abiola Ogunbanwo	Women's 100 m freestyle	59.74	48	Did not advance

Table tennis

Main articles: Table tennis at the 2020 Summer Olympics and Table tennis at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Qualification

Nigeria entered four athletes into the table tennis competition at the Games. Olajide Omotayo, along with Olympic veterans Offiong Edem and Olufunke Oshonaike, scored a semifinal victories to occupy the available spots each in the men's and women's singles, respectively, at the 2020 African Olympic Qualification Tournament in Tunis, Tunisia.^[22] For Oshonaike, she set a historic record by becoming the first ever African woman to participate in seven editions of the Summer Olympic Games.^[23]

Athlete	Event	Preliminary	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final / BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Quadri Aruna	Men's singles	Bye			Tsuboi (BRA) L 2–4	Did not advance
Olajide Omotayo		Bye	Apolónia (POR) L 0–4	Did not advance
Offiong Edem	Women's singles	Bye	Madarász (HUN) W 4–1	Zhang (USA) L 1–4	Did not advance
Olufunke Oshonaike		Liu (USA) L 1–4	Did not advance

Taekwondo

Main articles: Taekwondo at the 2020 Summer Olympics and Taekwondo at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Qualification

Nigeria entered one athlete into the taekwondo competition at the Games for the first time since London 2012. Elizabeth Anyanacho secured a spot in the women's welterweight category (67 kg) with a top two finish at the 2020 African Qualification Tournament in Rabat, Morocco.^[24][25]

Athlete	Event	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Repechage	Final / BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Elizabeth Anyanacho	Women's −67 kg	Tatar (TUR) L 7–12	Did not advance

Wrestling

Main articles: Wrestling at the 2020 Summer Olympics and Wrestling at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Qualification

Nigeria qualified five wrestlers for each of the following classes into the Olympic competition. One of them finished among the top six to book an Olympic berth in the women's freestyle 57 kg at the 2019 World Championships, while four additional licenses were awarded to the Nigerian wrestlers, who progressed to the top two finals of their respective weight categories at the 2021 African & Oceania Qualification Tournament in Hammamet, Tunisia.^[26][27]

Key:

• VT (ranking points: 5–0 or 0–5) – Victory by fall.
• VB (ranking points: 5–0 or 0–5) – Victory by injury (VF for forfeit, VA for withdrawal or disqualification)
• PP (ranking points: 3–1 or 1–3) – Decision by points – the loser with technical points.
• PO (ranking points: 3–0 or 0–3) – Decision by points – the loser without technical points.
• ST (ranking points: 4–0 or 0–4) – Great superiority – the loser without technical points and a margin of victory of at least 8 (Greco-Roman) or 10 (freestyle) points.
• SP (ranking points: 4–1 or 1–4) – Technical superiority – the loser with technical points and a margin of victory of at least 8 (Greco-Roman) or 10 (freestyle) points.

Freestyle

Athlete	Event	Round of 16	Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Repechage	Final / BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Ekerekeme Agiomor	Men's −86 kg	Punia (IND) L 1–4 SP	Did not advance				13
Adijat Idris	Women's −50 kg	Livach (UKR) L 0–4 ST	Did not advance				15
Odunayo Adekuoroye	Women's −57 kg	Nichita (MDA) L 0–5 VT	Did not advance				13
Aminat Adeniyi	Women's −62 kg	Koliadenko (UKR) L 0–5 VT	Did not advance				16
Blessing Oborududu	Women's −68 kg	Manolova (AZE) W 4–1 SP	Zhumanazarova (KGZ) W 3–1 PP	Soronzonbold (MGL) W 3–1 PP	Bye	Mensah (USA) L 1–3 PP