February 9th, 2018 marks the beginning of the XXIII Olympic Winter Games, and, for the first time in history, Nigeria won’t be just an outside spectator of the event – the country will finally take part in the Winter Olympics. Find out more right now!
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1. Nigerian bobsled team
When the Nigerian bobsled team made the cut to go to the Olympics in late 2017, the nation was ecstatic to know who the heroes were. It turned out that the three Nigerian bobsled hopefuls are Ngozi Onwumere, Seun Adigun, and Akuoma Omeoga.
The three ladies currently reside in Houston, Texas, but, no matter where life and travels take them, they always consider Nigeria to be their home. This is why Seun, Ngozi, and Akuoma had no doubts about which country to represent at the Winter Olympics 2018.
2. How did they get there?
Obviously, women’s bobsled is not the most common sport for Nigerian athletes – even the three stars of this year’s Nigerian bobsled team didn’t originally start with bobsled. Instead the three girls achieved their first major athletic successes in track and field.
The ladies admit that they didn’t start training in bobsled until their late 20s, and it wasn’t because they didn’t want to try it earlier. They just didn’t know this opportunity existed! Then Seun Adigun, the driver of the team, had a serious conversation with the Nigeria’s bobsled federation.
As the result of the conversation, Seun enlisted her two friends, Akuoma and Ngozi, to be her brakewomen. The result of the team’s vigorous training for several years is their chance to compete in the Olympic Games with the most famous athletes of the world.
3. Winter Olympics 2018 facts
Find out more about the first Winter Olympics Nigeria will compete in with these quick facts:
- 2018 is the first time South Korea holds the Winter Olympics – the country hosted the Summer Olympics before in 1988.
- The 2018 will cost five times less than the most expensive games ever, the 2014 Sochi Olympics – the overall cost of the event is $10 billion.
- Those who watch the Winter Olympics have strong preferences in sports: figure skating is the most popular sport, while ice hockey comes second.
- 2,800 athletes from 90 countries will compete in 7 sports and 15 disciplines during this year’s Olympics.
- The Winter Olympic Games 2018 will last for 17 days and take place in 13 different locations, both in the host city PyeongChang and the neighbouring Gangneung.
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