Nigeria (NGR)

The Nigerian National Olympic Committee was formed on 26 May 1951 and recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in the same year. The nation first competed at the Olympic Games in 1952. It has since missed only the 1976 Games, owing to the African boycott.

Nigerians have won 27 Olympic medals, including three golds. Their first two gold medals came in 1996, when long jumper Chioma Ajunwa and the “Super Eagles” (the Nigerian football team) became Olympic Champions. The third gold medal came in the 2000 men’s 4×400 metres relay, but Nigeria was not awarded this medal until 2008 when the USA team was disqualified for a doping violation.

Three Nigerian runners have won two medals at the Olympics: Enefiok Udo-Obong (a gold in 2000 and a bronze in 2004), Falilat Ogunkoya (a silver and a bronze in 1996), and Mary Onyali-Omagbemi (two bronze, one in 1992 and the other four years later).

As a country just north of the equator (the capitol Lagos is at 6° N. latitude), one would not expect Nigeria to have much of a winter sports history, and it has so far competed at the Olympic Winter Games only in 2018 and 2022. Nigeria sent four women sliders to the PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games, three of them competing in bobsleigh and one in skeleton. In the two-women bobsleigh at PyeongChang, the Nigerian pilot was Seun Adigun, who had previously competed at the 2012 London Olympic Games in the 100 metre hurdles. Beijing 2022 saw the appearance of the first Nigerian male Winter Olympian: cross-country skier Samuel Ikpefan, with his best result being a 73rd position in the sprint event.