Dipo Odunuga
Head Physiotherapist
National Sports Commission
Ask a Nigerian athlete what their greatest fear is whilst competing at the Olympics and they will quickly tell you- Achilles heel. The athlete’s body is her machine and in spite of the athlete’s overall strength a sprain or a bruise can make the difference between passive participation and winning a medal. Olusoji Fasuba and Damola Osayomi of Nigeria suffered injuries during the Beijing games. China’s leading 110m hurdler Liu Xiang withdrew from the games due to an injury. From the United Kingdom also, British gymnast Beth Tweddle sustained a rib injury. Oladipo Odunuga is the Head of the team of four physiotherapists treating the Nigerian teams at the Olympics. This is the eight Olympic games he has attended as physiotherapist for the Nigerian team. “ I was in Moscow in 1980, Los Angeles in 1984, Seoul in 1988, Barcelona in 1992, Atlanta in 1996, Sydney in 2000, Athens in 2004 and now Beijing 2008”. His role at each of the games was to give physical therapy to the athletes and manage their injuries. Odunuga trained as a physiotherapist at the University of Lagos College of Medicine. His training continued with postgraduate degrees in physiotherapy from Japan, Scotland, Australia and the U.S.A. He works quietly behind the scenes in Beijing attending to the athletes needs. He may not be an Olympian, but without him, many of our athletes would not be fit to hit the Olympic tracks. From his clinic in the bowels of the Olympic village, he tells Ebun Olatoye why.
Do you have a daily physiotherapy schedule for the Nigerian athletes?
We have for every athlete before a competition and when they have injuries. Before an athlete goes out we do a lot of stretching and massaging We do this to help them adjust their muscles, spines and joints to suit the impending exertion that will take place during the competition so that the muscles are more elastic. It’s a lot of work and many times we are here 2am every day.
Have our athletes had any serious injuries?
During the training in Korea there was one of our athletes- Durotoye, who sustained meniscal damage to the right knee joint. It’s not an injury that goes before six months so he had to pull out of the Olympics. (The meniscal cartilage acts as shock absorbers to absorb the impact of the upper leg on the lower leg, and to improve smooth movement and stability of the knee.)
What caused Durotoye’s injury?
It was because of the heightened training that’s all. He is here in Beijing and getting follow up treatment at the Poly Clinic for further expert opinion.
Damola Osayomi and Fasuba also sustained injuries, how serious were those injuries?
Olusoji Fasuba had a sprain to his right ankle joint before one of the races. But he is being properly taken care of and he is running tonight. Such sprains are managed in two ways: Physiotherapeutically (physical treatment) and chemotherapeutically (medicine). As for Damola, her injury was something she experienced because she is running at a very high level for the first time and she wants to do well. You know when you want to do better than your best you has to pay a price. She really wanted to do something but she has not trained to that level. She was running against seasoned veterans and pushing herself, which is good in many ways, but her muscles couldn’t cope with it. She is better now and she will be running the women’s relay.
What is the opinion of the physical framework of the Nigerian athletes?
We have the ideal framework for each sport. There is no problem with that.
Were the athletes examined before the games?
Yes. We did the examination in Abuja before camping began at all.
The physical framework for each sport differs one from to the other. For an athlete who wants to compete in more than one sport, which muscles need to be developed for sports like athletics and soccer?
In athletics for instance you need good height and appropriate muscle framework. The running muscles must well developed e.g. the hamstrings (bottom thigh), the quadriceps (top thing) and the calf muscles. Those are the muscles for propulsion and movement. Our people have the ideal build they just need to train those muscles for the extra exertion required for Olympics. For swimming, in addition to the athletic build, you must have well developed chest muscles. (i.e. the pectoralis major, minor and deltoid muscles.) Taekwondo is relative depending on the weight category but one thing is important, all the muscles you use for fighting must be strong. They may not necessarily be big, but they must be strong because apart from strength you need skill, stability and ability to think fast otherwise you will risk a knock out. For soccer, in addition to the athletic build, you need a lot of muscles for stability especially when you are dribbling. The muscles that control the ankle joint for example are tibialis anterior and posterior as well as the peroneals.
If the Nigerian athletes had the required physical framework for their sports, why did they perform so poorly altogether at the games?
A man who uses a goat to set a trap will know the animal he wants to catch.” Any of the big cats clearly. But having said this, the level of sports at the Olympics is different from other levels. It’s the height of all Sports both at the training of the athletes and the people who train them. I mean the coaches and other handlers. Like I mentioned earlier, Damola tried her best and wanted to go beyond her best but her level of training could not support her desire because the Olympics required of her muscles what she wasn’t used to.
What are your professional recommendations regarding physical preparation for the 2012 Olympics?
We should have very early camping. Most countries camp for four years. The Chinese who will compete in 2012 are already in camp as we speak. In 2004 prior to the Athens Olympics we were in Cuba. Whilst there, we were introduced to the boxers who were training for Beijing there in Havana. This means that whatever sports they do will become natural to them by the next Olympics. A long period of camping is required to develop muscles. It is not enough to have the physical framework, that framework must be trained. Also people must have adequate and comprehensive medical coverage and all the relevant medical personnel must be represented in camp. Such as doctors, physiotherapists, sports psychologists, nurses, dieticians, kinesiologists (they specialize in management of movement of the joints.)
Do you have all these medical personnel in the Olympic village now? Well,…. it can be arranged.
Ebun Olatoye
Beijing, China
This article is sponsored by Nagode Industries Limited.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Voice of Nigerians in Beijing.
The world has anticipated the Beijing 2008 Olympics for four years. The games began on August 8 and end today August 24 with China in the lead with 46gold medals, the U.S in the lead in total number of medals- (93 and counting) and countries like Jamaica surpassing any previous performance at the Olympics with 5 gold medals. Nigeria participated in 10 Olympic sports namely: Athletics, Badminton, Boxing, Football, Judo, Swimming, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Weightlifting and Wrestling. On August 22 hours before Nigerian won its first two medals, Ebun Olatoye captures the voice of Nigerians in Beijing as they do a post mortem of Nigeria’s performance at the 2008 Olympic games.
Amos Adamu
Director General: National Sports Commission
“Well for the performance of our teams we are not disappointed at all because we know where we are coming from and we know the level of our athletes. Most of the athletes performed better than their best. We have a weight lifter who is now number five in the world. She didn’t win a medal but to rate as number five in the world you know what that means. We also have another lifter who is number 13 in the world. For the first time our table tennis single men-Segun Moses Toriola got to number 15 in the world. In Nigeria’s history at the Olympics we haven’t reached so high a number. So for us it is a very good performance that our athletes have put up. Also the football players are doing incredibly well. They have reached the finals and if they win tomorrow we will win a gold medal. Our female 4 by 1 relay team has also made finals, which means they are one of the eight best in the world.”
Dr. Amos Adamu was the Director of Sports in Nigeria from 1991 till 2007. He became Director General of the National Sports in Commission in 2007. The women’s relay team won the bronze medal hours after this interview.
Engr. Habu Ahmed Gumel
President of the Nigeria Olympic Committee
“Our performance in Beijing is better what we did at Athens in 2004. So also when we get to London 2012 there will be an improvement. The Olympics is a meeting of the whole world. When you participate at the Olympics you do your best and test your ability against the best in the world. Some of our athletes have performed very well. You can see what we have done in football and we are now at the finals. But there is still a lot to do so we can improve in terms of preparation of the athletes and for funds to be released at the right time. This is key because you cannot prepare or train without funds. The private sector must come and support what the government is doing.”
What plans have we set in place for the London 2012 Olympics?
We must start preparing from now. To prepare an athlete it takes four years. All countries do this.
Did Nigeria start preparing for the Beijing games immediately after Athens 2004 Olympic games?
We didn’t prepare like we should have done, but this time around we will start immediately.
Engr Gumel has presided over the Nigerian Olympic Committee for two consecutive Olympics..
Hafsat Abiola Costello
Founder KIND- Kudirat Initiative for Democracy
“There is a dictum, which we ignore at our peril: if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Nigeria participated in 10 sports at this Olympic games. By the semifinals, we had been eliminated in all but two games: athletics and football. Our hope medal comes from these two games. What distinguishes us from China, leading in gold medals? Or the USA, with many silver, bronze and some gold? Or perhaps more realistically, Ethiopia, which has 6 medals including gold. It is not talent that distinguishes us from them. Our best athletes are probably as capable of winning medals as the best of other countries, and we see this when Nigerians serve on other national teams like Samuel Adelebari who now runs for Qatar. Our failure is our inadequate preparation. This year's Olympics is already at an end. Before 2012 in London, let us focus on providing our athletes with the support and training facilities that they need to excel. The athletes are willing to perform for the country but they need the country to step up with organizational support so that their performances win medals.”
Hafsat Abiola-Costello lives in Beijing China with her husband and children.
Earnest C. Ebi
Deputy Governor Central bank of Nigeria
“Of all the games at the Olympics I have only been able to follow the football and our performance there has been very impressive. I just arrived in Beijing on Tuesday so I missed most of the matches but I saw them on television. In fact, since I came, Chinese people who are ardent fans of our football team have given us special treatment and recognition all because of our performance at the football games. Everywhere we go when they find out we are Nigerians they want to take pictures with us and want us to sign autographs for them. This is a clear indication of how important sports is to the image and development of a country. So if we raise the level of our sports and extend it to a lot of other areas, it will take the country to the next level. I feel very proud to be a Nigerian right now.”
Ernest Ebi returned to Nigeria on Friday August 22.
Sani Ndanusa
President of the Tennis Federation and Third Vice President Nigerian Olympic Committee and Chairman of technical Commission.
“Well I happen to be the president of the technical committee in the Nigerian Olympic Committee. I cannot say we had a well-articulated preparation. We could have been better in preparation with a long-term preparation not a fire brigade approach. At the end of every Olympics other countries begin preparing for the next Olympic games. In this regard I would like to see better preparations from Nigeria for 2012. By now we should have penciled down the athletes that we will train for the next Olympics and we should have started looking at how they will be camped and groomed to compete at other international events before the Olympics. That is my advice for the National Sports Commission.”
How would you rate Nigeria’s performance at the Olympics?
Having mentioned the level of preparation of our athletes, you can see that what we couldn’t have expected more than what they did. We have every hope that we will get back home with the football gold medal, which matters a lot for Nigeria being a football nation. We have the talent and we have the institutional capacity to develop sports in Nigeria. Generally we have to go back to the basics to reinforce our foundation and build for higher grounds especially now that we have a vision to be among the top 20 countries in the world by the year 2020 and that also goes for Sports. The rest of the world is not waiting and watching so we have to fast track our development in Nigeria. In the area of sports we can choose eight specific Olympic sports and devote all our energy, funds and focus to develop them from grassroots. Each one of the sports should have academies where they are trained regimentally and academically.”
Do you think this can be achieved in Nigeria?
Yes of course. We have the capacity.
Sani Ndanusa established a lawn tennis academy in Kaduna, Kaduna State.
Ambassador Ba U. Eyo
Embassy of Nigeria in China.
His Excellency speaks on the upsides and downsides of heading the Nigerian embassy in the Olympics host city.
“Nigeria and China have a very good relationship as you must know. Although that relationship could be better in terms of China issuing visas and residence permit and extensions for our citizens. But apart from that, I think it is a lifetime privilege to be Ambassador in the city where the Olympics is hosted. Even though this position has over stretched us all round at the embassy here, it remains a great privilege.”
Performance of Nigerian Olympians at the Beijing Olympics:
“The sad aspect is that Nigeria is not doing well and we know we are not doing well because they did not prepare. This is because those responsible did not have facilities to prepare the athletes. Maybe there is hope that we win gold at the soccer. It is a big shame. Think of Atlanta twelve years ago even before then. We discussed with the Minister for Sports to find that what is happening and he is very concerned. The idea is that those responsible and those in government should revert to what it was in the past. Sports should be groomed from the grassroots level to the national level and then international level. It has to be a profession. The athletes have to go for competitions. It is a sad story but that is what we deserve because we did not prepare. Imagine if you register a child in school and that child abandons classes, there is no way he can do well. When the exam comes there is no miracle, he will fail. We cannot go to sleep and expect to get any laurels it is not possible. Not in the real world. We hope those who matter will resolve this matter and do like others do so that Nigeria can also shine.”
Ambassador Eyo resumed office at the Nigerian Embassy in Beijing China in May 2008.
Amos Adamu
Director General: National Sports Commission
“Well for the performance of our teams we are not disappointed at all because we know where we are coming from and we know the level of our athletes. Most of the athletes performed better than their best. We have a weight lifter who is now number five in the world. She didn’t win a medal but to rate as number five in the world you know what that means. We also have another lifter who is number 13 in the world. For the first time our table tennis single men-Segun Moses Toriola got to number 15 in the world. In Nigeria’s history at the Olympics we haven’t reached so high a number. So for us it is a very good performance that our athletes have put up. Also the football players are doing incredibly well. They have reached the finals and if they win tomorrow we will win a gold medal. Our female 4 by 1 relay team has also made finals, which means they are one of the eight best in the world.”
Dr. Amos Adamu was the Director of Sports in Nigeria from 1991 till 2007. He became Director General of the National Sports in Commission in 2007. The women’s relay team won the bronze medal hours after this interview.
Engr. Habu Ahmed Gumel
President of the Nigeria Olympic Committee
“Our performance in Beijing is better what we did at Athens in 2004. So also when we get to London 2012 there will be an improvement. The Olympics is a meeting of the whole world. When you participate at the Olympics you do your best and test your ability against the best in the world. Some of our athletes have performed very well. You can see what we have done in football and we are now at the finals. But there is still a lot to do so we can improve in terms of preparation of the athletes and for funds to be released at the right time. This is key because you cannot prepare or train without funds. The private sector must come and support what the government is doing.”
What plans have we set in place for the London 2012 Olympics?
We must start preparing from now. To prepare an athlete it takes four years. All countries do this.
Did Nigeria start preparing for the Beijing games immediately after Athens 2004 Olympic games?
We didn’t prepare like we should have done, but this time around we will start immediately.
Engr Gumel has presided over the Nigerian Olympic Committee for two consecutive Olympics..
Hafsat Abiola Costello
Founder KIND- Kudirat Initiative for Democracy
“There is a dictum, which we ignore at our peril: if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Nigeria participated in 10 sports at this Olympic games. By the semifinals, we had been eliminated in all but two games: athletics and football. Our hope medal comes from these two games. What distinguishes us from China, leading in gold medals? Or the USA, with many silver, bronze and some gold? Or perhaps more realistically, Ethiopia, which has 6 medals including gold. It is not talent that distinguishes us from them. Our best athletes are probably as capable of winning medals as the best of other countries, and we see this when Nigerians serve on other national teams like Samuel Adelebari who now runs for Qatar. Our failure is our inadequate preparation. This year's Olympics is already at an end. Before 2012 in London, let us focus on providing our athletes with the support and training facilities that they need to excel. The athletes are willing to perform for the country but they need the country to step up with organizational support so that their performances win medals.”
Hafsat Abiola-Costello lives in Beijing China with her husband and children.
Earnest C. Ebi
Deputy Governor Central bank of Nigeria
“Of all the games at the Olympics I have only been able to follow the football and our performance there has been very impressive. I just arrived in Beijing on Tuesday so I missed most of the matches but I saw them on television. In fact, since I came, Chinese people who are ardent fans of our football team have given us special treatment and recognition all because of our performance at the football games. Everywhere we go when they find out we are Nigerians they want to take pictures with us and want us to sign autographs for them. This is a clear indication of how important sports is to the image and development of a country. So if we raise the level of our sports and extend it to a lot of other areas, it will take the country to the next level. I feel very proud to be a Nigerian right now.”
Ernest Ebi returned to Nigeria on Friday August 22.
Sani Ndanusa
President of the Tennis Federation and Third Vice President Nigerian Olympic Committee and Chairman of technical Commission.
“Well I happen to be the president of the technical committee in the Nigerian Olympic Committee. I cannot say we had a well-articulated preparation. We could have been better in preparation with a long-term preparation not a fire brigade approach. At the end of every Olympics other countries begin preparing for the next Olympic games. In this regard I would like to see better preparations from Nigeria for 2012. By now we should have penciled down the athletes that we will train for the next Olympics and we should have started looking at how they will be camped and groomed to compete at other international events before the Olympics. That is my advice for the National Sports Commission.”
How would you rate Nigeria’s performance at the Olympics?
Having mentioned the level of preparation of our athletes, you can see that what we couldn’t have expected more than what they did. We have every hope that we will get back home with the football gold medal, which matters a lot for Nigeria being a football nation. We have the talent and we have the institutional capacity to develop sports in Nigeria. Generally we have to go back to the basics to reinforce our foundation and build for higher grounds especially now that we have a vision to be among the top 20 countries in the world by the year 2020 and that also goes for Sports. The rest of the world is not waiting and watching so we have to fast track our development in Nigeria. In the area of sports we can choose eight specific Olympic sports and devote all our energy, funds and focus to develop them from grassroots. Each one of the sports should have academies where they are trained regimentally and academically.”
Do you think this can be achieved in Nigeria?
Yes of course. We have the capacity.
Sani Ndanusa established a lawn tennis academy in Kaduna, Kaduna State.
Ambassador Ba U. Eyo
Embassy of Nigeria in China.
His Excellency speaks on the upsides and downsides of heading the Nigerian embassy in the Olympics host city.
“Nigeria and China have a very good relationship as you must know. Although that relationship could be better in terms of China issuing visas and residence permit and extensions for our citizens. But apart from that, I think it is a lifetime privilege to be Ambassador in the city where the Olympics is hosted. Even though this position has over stretched us all round at the embassy here, it remains a great privilege.”
Performance of Nigerian Olympians at the Beijing Olympics:
“The sad aspect is that Nigeria is not doing well and we know we are not doing well because they did not prepare. This is because those responsible did not have facilities to prepare the athletes. Maybe there is hope that we win gold at the soccer. It is a big shame. Think of Atlanta twelve years ago even before then. We discussed with the Minister for Sports to find that what is happening and he is very concerned. The idea is that those responsible and those in government should revert to what it was in the past. Sports should be groomed from the grassroots level to the national level and then international level. It has to be a profession. The athletes have to go for competitions. It is a sad story but that is what we deserve because we did not prepare. Imagine if you register a child in school and that child abandons classes, there is no way he can do well. When the exam comes there is no miracle, he will fail. We cannot go to sleep and expect to get any laurels it is not possible. Not in the real world. We hope those who matter will resolve this matter and do like others do so that Nigeria can also shine.”
Ambassador Eyo resumed office at the Nigerian Embassy in Beijing China in May 2008.
Gold Game: Silver Medal.
Under the scorching sun in Beijing’s cloudless sky, 89, 700 people thronged the Bird’s Nest to watch Nigeria play Argentina at the final match of the Olympic football tournament. Nigerians filed in en masse in national colours as the Embassy staff distributed national flags to thousands of Chinese and international supporters.
Temperature was 38 degrees Celsius but the weather didn’t dampen the enthusiasm in the stadium or slow down the football fans who snaked in the National Stadium. The time was 12noon in Beijing, 5a.m in Nigeria and 3a.m in Saudi Arabia where President Musa Yaradua was at the time of the match. About 10a.m Beijing time, the President made a call to members of the Nigerian Football team, the coach and members of the Nigeria Olympic Committee from Saudi. “I have every confidence that you will bring the gold home he said” whilst assuring the team that he would stay tuned to watch the match from Saudi. After winning every match at the Olympic tournament (save for the draw in the preliminaries against Holland in Tianjin, China on August 7) the Nigerian team was poised to win gold. Ibrahim Isa, the Olympic attaché who coordinates between the Olympic Committee BOCOG and the Nigerian Embassy had made preparations for a celebration at the Embassy grounds after the game. “I am confident that we will win he said as he prepared to go to the stadium.” A tough match ensued between Nigeria and Argentina at 12noon. During the first half of the game, the teams showed off their skills and but played in reserve. Within 15minutes of the second half, Argentina’s Di Maria scored a goal in the brief moment during which the defense team was left open. In spite of the fifteen minute extra time, Argentina’s goal remained the lone goal that gave them the gold medal making Nigeria second in the game with the only silver medal at the Olympics. Mobile activity was in high gear as Nigerians at the stadium communicated with Nigerians at home about the match. A deflated Ibrahim Isa shared his feelings: “Well, they tried their best but their best didn’t spark us enough. I said before that the city of Beijing would have been too small for us today if we had won. I am a little depressed now but the boys have done us good. Though the gold was not given to us, but they were really determined and they played a good game.”
Tears beaded the eyes of many Nigerians making them unwilling to give comments. Chris Baker: an Australia citizen based in Beijing also commented, “I came here to support Nigeria and I had a blast watching them play. It was a great game.” Although it was 5a.m, Nigerians at home were also watching. Darius Fela says” We didn’t have light so I woke up early and went to a hotel close to my house to watch it. I still have a headache from all the screaming. I am sad but I have to give it to them, the boys played a good match.”
They say the journey is usually more valuable than the end. The Nigerian team played with the weight of 140million Nigerians. They gave Argentina a hard game and brought us our lone silver medal since the beginning of the games.
The Beijing Summer Olympics end on Sunday August 24 and so far Nigeria has won three medals: silver in football, bronze in women’s long jump and bronze in the women’s 4 by 1 relay.
Ebun Olatoye
Beijing China
Temperature was 38 degrees Celsius but the weather didn’t dampen the enthusiasm in the stadium or slow down the football fans who snaked in the National Stadium. The time was 12noon in Beijing, 5a.m in Nigeria and 3a.m in Saudi Arabia where President Musa Yaradua was at the time of the match. About 10a.m Beijing time, the President made a call to members of the Nigerian Football team, the coach and members of the Nigeria Olympic Committee from Saudi. “I have every confidence that you will bring the gold home he said” whilst assuring the team that he would stay tuned to watch the match from Saudi. After winning every match at the Olympic tournament (save for the draw in the preliminaries against Holland in Tianjin, China on August 7) the Nigerian team was poised to win gold. Ibrahim Isa, the Olympic attaché who coordinates between the Olympic Committee BOCOG and the Nigerian Embassy had made preparations for a celebration at the Embassy grounds after the game. “I am confident that we will win he said as he prepared to go to the stadium.” A tough match ensued between Nigeria and Argentina at 12noon. During the first half of the game, the teams showed off their skills and but played in reserve. Within 15minutes of the second half, Argentina’s Di Maria scored a goal in the brief moment during which the defense team was left open. In spite of the fifteen minute extra time, Argentina’s goal remained the lone goal that gave them the gold medal making Nigeria second in the game with the only silver medal at the Olympics. Mobile activity was in high gear as Nigerians at the stadium communicated with Nigerians at home about the match. A deflated Ibrahim Isa shared his feelings: “Well, they tried their best but their best didn’t spark us enough. I said before that the city of Beijing would have been too small for us today if we had won. I am a little depressed now but the boys have done us good. Though the gold was not given to us, but they were really determined and they played a good game.”
Tears beaded the eyes of many Nigerians making them unwilling to give comments. Chris Baker: an Australia citizen based in Beijing also commented, “I came here to support Nigeria and I had a blast watching them play. It was a great game.” Although it was 5a.m, Nigerians at home were also watching. Darius Fela says” We didn’t have light so I woke up early and went to a hotel close to my house to watch it. I still have a headache from all the screaming. I am sad but I have to give it to them, the boys played a good match.”
They say the journey is usually more valuable than the end. The Nigerian team played with the weight of 140million Nigerians. They gave Argentina a hard game and brought us our lone silver medal since the beginning of the games.
The Beijing Summer Olympics end on Sunday August 24 and so far Nigeria has won three medals: silver in football, bronze in women’s long jump and bronze in the women’s 4 by 1 relay.
Ebun Olatoye
Beijing China
Monday, August 18, 2008
Osayomi Falls from Race.
News of Damola’s injury was first disclosed by her American coach John Burks on Sunday August 17, minutes before Damola’s fallout from then race for the finals. At 11.44sec Damola’s poor performance was incongruent with her previous victories and an indication that she was suffering a severe injury. “This is my worst race this year” she says the morning after the match. “I feel horrible. I ran 11.13 for the heat and even during my private training I do 11.02, 11.00 and sometimes even 10 plus,” says a devastated Damola. Burks has trained Damola for over two years but only arrived in Beijing on August 14th. Without accreditation John Burks could not gain access to the Olympic games village where Damola Osayomi was camped.
However coach Harrison Momoh and Innocent Egbunike were at hand to train Damola and other members of the Nigerian athletic team. Once Burks gained access to Damola, they resumed their usual training and he was confident that she would at least make the finals. Minutes before her last 100m race, Burks said, “I know she can make this final. I was hoping she would get a medal but right now the complication in her leg is giving me concerns. If I could have come here from day one, I would have stretched her and done the things we do before a race. But it’s not that bad. I know her better than anyone else because I train her in America and I am sure she will be fine.” Damola paints a clearer picture of the injury: “The pain is not in my leg, it is in my groin. I started feeling it during the second race yesterday (August 16) and the doctors have been treating me.” What triggered the pain remains a mystery but Damola suspects two things: “It could be the way I push out of the block for the race because maybe sometimes I push out too powerfully” and “also when I came back from Nigeria in July for the pre Olympic trials, I was totally out of shape. I gained 10pounds whilst in Nigeria and I had to work extra hard to lose the weight before the Olympics. I normally weigh 149pounds but when I came back to the U.S from Nigeria I was weighing 160pounds. I worked out intensively and came down to 153pounds when I was coming to the Olympics.” Damola’s fallout came as unexpected as her injury and her coach says “When she came she was 110% ready to run. I was looking at her doing 11.02. I wanted her to 11.01 or 10.98. This was what I expected from based on what I had done with her before she came. She said 11.13 felt easy. I’ve been doing these for 16years and I have eight gold medal athletes under my belt. She has the talent and the strength and right now Damola is even more talented than many of the people I have trained.
The only thing that she doesn’t have that I can’t give her is the experience she needs to run these races. Within a year and a year and a half she will be number one or within the top five sprinters in the world” says Burk. Osayomi was running against other sprinters who were dashing across the 100m track in less then 11seconds. With a difference of .31 seconds, Damola went from leading the race at the heat to being the last at the race for the finals, which Kerron Stewart from Jamaica won in 11.05sec.
Damola isn’t the only athlete to suffer from Achilles heels at the Beijing Olympic games. Liu Xiang, China’s 110m-hurdler and most celebrated athlete also pulled out of his race today due to an injury.
Win or lose at the 100m, Damola’s spirits are up and she is putting her better foot forward at the women’s relay.
However coach Harrison Momoh and Innocent Egbunike were at hand to train Damola and other members of the Nigerian athletic team. Once Burks gained access to Damola, they resumed their usual training and he was confident that she would at least make the finals. Minutes before her last 100m race, Burks said, “I know she can make this final. I was hoping she would get a medal but right now the complication in her leg is giving me concerns. If I could have come here from day one, I would have stretched her and done the things we do before a race. But it’s not that bad. I know her better than anyone else because I train her in America and I am sure she will be fine.” Damola paints a clearer picture of the injury: “The pain is not in my leg, it is in my groin. I started feeling it during the second race yesterday (August 16) and the doctors have been treating me.” What triggered the pain remains a mystery but Damola suspects two things: “It could be the way I push out of the block for the race because maybe sometimes I push out too powerfully” and “also when I came back from Nigeria in July for the pre Olympic trials, I was totally out of shape. I gained 10pounds whilst in Nigeria and I had to work extra hard to lose the weight before the Olympics. I normally weigh 149pounds but when I came back to the U.S from Nigeria I was weighing 160pounds. I worked out intensively and came down to 153pounds when I was coming to the Olympics.” Damola’s fallout came as unexpected as her injury and her coach says “When she came she was 110% ready to run. I was looking at her doing 11.02. I wanted her to 11.01 or 10.98. This was what I expected from based on what I had done with her before she came. She said 11.13 felt easy. I’ve been doing these for 16years and I have eight gold medal athletes under my belt. She has the talent and the strength and right now Damola is even more talented than many of the people I have trained.
The only thing that she doesn’t have that I can’t give her is the experience she needs to run these races. Within a year and a year and a half she will be number one or within the top five sprinters in the world” says Burk. Osayomi was running against other sprinters who were dashing across the 100m track in less then 11seconds. With a difference of .31 seconds, Damola went from leading the race at the heat to being the last at the race for the finals, which Kerron Stewart from Jamaica won in 11.05sec.
Damola isn’t the only athlete to suffer from Achilles heels at the Beijing Olympic games. Liu Xiang, China’s 110m-hurdler and most celebrated athlete also pulled out of his race today due to an injury.
Win or lose at the 100m, Damola’s spirits are up and she is putting her better foot forward at the women’s relay.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Faster than a speeding bullet: Osayomi, our hope for Gold.
Faster than a speeding bullet, strong than a bolt of lightning…Damola Osayomi may not be Superman but she is certainly the fastest female sprinter in Africa. She has proved it again by winning the 100m heats at the Beijing 2008 Olympics at 11.13seconds with Debbie Ferguson from the Bahamas biting the dust behind her. The preliminaries to the semi finals continue at 8.45p.m Beijing time (1.45pm in Nigeria) on Saturday August 16, 2008, where her fate for the semi finals will be determined.
However, this isn’t Osayomi’s best, her 100m record is 11.08seconds just .95seconds behind America’s renowned Florence Griffith Joyner. The athletic stars have two things in common- America, where Osayomi is now studying Business Management at the University of South Carolina whilst enjoying Nike contracts, and a goal for Gold.
Osayomi,22, was discovered ten years ago by Samuel Akinyemi at Christ’s Girls School Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State. She played football at the time but Akinyemi gently steered her from the path of soccer to that of athletes. “He said I was a runner and not a footballer and he did everything to make it possible for me to convert from football to track and line and gradually began developing interest and I am glad I did.”
Since her conversion, Osayomi has won several medals. She won gold medals for the 100m and 200m games at the All Africa games in 2007, making her the only other African female athlete to accomplish this feat after Mary Onyali. Osayomi also won gold the African Championships in April 2008 for 100m and 400m by 1 races. Back home during the Mobil Olympic pre trial games in Abuja in July 2008, she won the track and field event where she made her 11.08second record for the 100m races and 22.74record for the 200m race.
However, her race to the top has met challenges. As the youngest member of the Nigerian athletic team, she experienced a peculiar age discrimination. During the pre Olympic trials in 2004, she came second at the 100m race behind Endurance Ojokolo yet she was not allowed to compete in the Athens Olympics because “ they said I was too young and inexperienced”. Damola was 18years old at the time. ‘I felt very bad and cheated but there was nothing I could do because the officials word was final, but I remained determined to do my best.”
Four years later, Damola is making her first appearance at an Olympics games and she is gunning for Gold. “I don’t train to come second, I train to win. I don’t underrate myself, I am going there with God on my side and I’m going to and I know that I will get a gold medal by the grace of God”
For Damola, her tool is her body, and not only does she train five days a week, she makes a careful diet plan and abides by her coach’s instructions as her guiding law.
“My diet is very lean. I eat more vegetables and fruits and I eat oatmeal. I try to stay away from oily food and too much carbohydrate. I eat chicken breasts and I do my best to eat early I don’t eat late at night. And I train every day except Sundays and Fridays and I weight myself everyday to ensure that I maintain my weight. ”
Damola is running the women’s 100m, 200m and 400m by 1 relay race with Franka Idogo, Gloria Kemasuode , Alimat Ismaila and Agnes Ozaguo. The team is camped alongside all other national teams around the world and often next to competing nationals. The teams eat, live and bond together yet Damola says when the trigger is pulled and she smells the gunpowder; it’s all about the finish line. “We are all friends but its only one person that will win; two people cannot be champions. So when we are at the tracks, I don’t know anybody again all I can see is the medal. But when we are at meals at the Olympic village we are friends again.”
Although Damola hasn’t had much training with her team, she is confident that they will shine at the games. Her only concern she says “is with our baton exchange. Because I only arrived on Sunday, we haven’t had a lot of practice together. But we are working on that now, and once that is perfected, watch out for us.”
Ebun Olatoye
Beijing China
This article is sponsored by Nagode Industries Limited.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Banking on Gold.
The men’s football team is running hard with the ball. With their draw out match against the Netherlands on August 7th, their victory over Japan on August 10th in Tianjing, China, and today’s triumph over America, there is hope for Olympic medals yet for Nigeria.
Yet our strongest and most promising teams are the Nigerian athletic groups under the instructions of Nigeria’s heavily decorated athlete- Innocent Egbunike and former African champion Pat Itanyi.
Amongst the long list of shining athletes are Olusoji Fasuba, Adetoye Durotoye, Blessing Okagbare, Uchenna Emechulu and the fastest female sprinter in Africa-Damola Osayomi. Arriving in Beijing from South Korea on Sunday August 10th, Damola is determined to make the finals of the 100m races and if anyone can do it, Osayomi can. Although this is Osayomi’s first time at the Olympic games, she is undaunted by the other more experienced athletes who have competed in the Olympics in the past. “I am aware that this is my first time at the Olympics, but I am not intimidated by the big names that I will be competing against”.
Unlike their counterparts from other countries, the Nigerian athletic teams have had little practice together particularly their baton exchange for the relay games. Unmoved, Damola says they have the time they need to perfect their exchange if they follow the instruction of their coach- Innocent Egbunike. “If we dwell on the problems, we will not be able to focus on winning. At the end of the day, I win not only for my country but for myself as well, and it is my name that will be written down in the history books. If I focus on the game and listen to my coach, I am confident that I will make the finals.” says Damola.
Innocent’s name is engraved in sports history at and abroad. He was the best quarter miler in Africa and the world in the 80s and 90s and won the first Olympic medal by an African athlete. Egbunike was also a world champion as well as African record holder. He trained the first Nigerian team to win a relay gold medal at the Sydney 2000 Olympics and today he trains American athlete Angelo Taylor.
The athletic Olympic games begin on Friday August 15th in Beijing and with our dream team and our “ not so innocent” coach, Nigeria is banking on gold.
Yet our strongest and most promising teams are the Nigerian athletic groups under the instructions of Nigeria’s heavily decorated athlete- Innocent Egbunike and former African champion Pat Itanyi.
Amongst the long list of shining athletes are Olusoji Fasuba, Adetoye Durotoye, Blessing Okagbare, Uchenna Emechulu and the fastest female sprinter in Africa-Damola Osayomi. Arriving in Beijing from South Korea on Sunday August 10th, Damola is determined to make the finals of the 100m races and if anyone can do it, Osayomi can. Although this is Osayomi’s first time at the Olympic games, she is undaunted by the other more experienced athletes who have competed in the Olympics in the past. “I am aware that this is my first time at the Olympics, but I am not intimidated by the big names that I will be competing against”.
Unlike their counterparts from other countries, the Nigerian athletic teams have had little practice together particularly their baton exchange for the relay games. Unmoved, Damola says they have the time they need to perfect their exchange if they follow the instruction of their coach- Innocent Egbunike. “If we dwell on the problems, we will not be able to focus on winning. At the end of the day, I win not only for my country but for myself as well, and it is my name that will be written down in the history books. If I focus on the game and listen to my coach, I am confident that I will make the finals.” says Damola.
Innocent’s name is engraved in sports history at and abroad. He was the best quarter miler in Africa and the world in the 80s and 90s and won the first Olympic medal by an African athlete. Egbunike was also a world champion as well as African record holder. He trained the first Nigerian team to win a relay gold medal at the Sydney 2000 Olympics and today he trains American athlete Angelo Taylor.
The athletic Olympic games begin on Friday August 15th in Beijing and with our dream team and our “ not so innocent” coach, Nigeria is banking on gold.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Outnumbered but not outdone: A Nigerian support club made in Beijing.
The Nigerian Olympic team arrived in Tianjin on Monday August 4th from South Korea where the team had been training and acclimatizing to Tinajin’s summer weather, very similar to Nigeria’s. Whilst Victor Obinna Nsofor and the rest of the team spun a tough ball for the Netherlands players, Nigeria’s unofficial supporters club was the star attraction at the stadium that evening.A distinctive group of vivacious, mostly male Nigerian traders based in Beijing, made up this unofficial support team for the Nigerian players. “The FIFA officials told us that the supporters club are on their way to China and will arrive by the following day,” says Olatunde, one of the supporters. A week later, news of FIFA’s support troup remains to be heard. Without drums, practice or the support of the Nigerian Football Association, this team of over 45 Nigerians was the much-needed support that the Nigerian football team needed.
The team began chanting from the center of the stadium across the opening arena but were asked by a group of soldiers from the Chinese Liberation Army doubling as Olympic officials to move to their individually allotted seats. Stubborn and undeterred, the group shuffled on, kiting the Nigerian flag high to the west end of the stadium and outshining the scores of orange clad Dutch support team.
Olatunde Akinlabi and Charles Okeke were the two men who rallied the group together. Both have lived in Beijing, China for a combination of seven years. Propelled by the love of football, the dynamic two called a meeting with Nigerians in Beijing at the African Restaurant and offered to make them t-shirts and buy their tickets for all the football matches forming a team of supporters for the Nigerian football team.
“We love the game and we love our country. We don’t pray that our boys lose, but whether or not they win the game, we will continue to support the Nigerian football team,” says Okeke.
Mid interview, Charles jumped from his seat to add a few extra cheers “Over the bar, Over the bar” and reminders “Where were you in Atlanta 96?”
The fever was evident in the other members of the group. Some held Bibles and made prayers, whilst others impregnated themselves with football. Others shouted and sang, all drawing the attention of eyes and cameras in the stadium to the loud Nigerian group.
Although the game was a draw between Nigerian and Holland 0 to 0, Nigeria out sang Holland. Nigeria also beat Japan in the following round of preliminaries at the same stadium in Tianjin China on August 10, 2008.
The game continues in Beijing on August 13, with Nigeria playing against the U.S team and Olatunde Akinlabi says, “We will be there!”
Words: Ebun Olatoye
Photos: Ty Bello
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