D’Tigress’ decisive victory over Canada on Sunday made history for Team Nigeria at the Paris 2024 Olympics by securing a spot in the Women’s Basketball Quarterfinals.
The women got out to a quick start, outscoring their opponents 12–2, but the Canadians rallied to tie the score at 18–18 in the first quarter and then win the second to lead 41–37 at the half.
D’Tigress had an incredible third quarter, holding the North Americans to just five points while putting on a 23-point offensive effort to take a 14-point lead that they would never give up as they cruised home 79-70.
The Nigerian team achieved a historic victory, becoming the first African team to win two games and go to the round of eight at the Olympics. Even more astounding when you take into account that the wins came against teams with global rankings of 3 and 5. But on Wednesday, the top-ranked and tournament favorite, the USA, will be up next. Although it will be a difficult task, nothing can be ruled out given how Rena Wakama’s side has performed in this competition.
With a scorching Personal Season Best time of 22.24 seconds for her Heat 1 victory, Favour Ofili overcame her contentious removal from the 100 meters to advance to the 200 meters Semi Finals in Athletics. However, Oyesade Olatoye’s 66.41-meter Hammer Throw was insufficient, and she was eliminated.
During the evening track session, Samuel Ogazi demonstrated his increasing ability by placing second in Heat 4, Round 1 of the Men’s 400 meters, securing a spot in the Semi Finals. After placing fourth in Heat 1 with a timing of 45.52 seconds, Chidi Okezie was forced to race in the Repechage Round due to time slot inconsistencies.
Teams from Nigeria will compete today in the women’s 400-meter relay led by Ella Onojuvwevwo and Esther Elo Joseph, the men’s 400-meter hurdles led by Ezekiel Nathaniel, and the men’s 200-meter relay led by Udodi Onwuzuruike. A final spot in the women’s 200-meter semi-final will also be up for grabs for Favor Ofili.
In other news, Blessing Oborodudu, the silver medallist from Tokyo 2020, will face Linda Morais of Canada in the Round of 16 of the Women’s 68kg Freestyle Wrestling event with the hopes of improving on the previous result. She will compete in the Quarterfinals later in the day if she passes that test. For Team Nigeria in wrestling, there are a lot of expectations.
