The reasons why Team Nigeria’s representative in cycling Ese Ukpeseraye borrowed a bicycle to compete in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris have been revealed by Sports Minister Owan Enoh.
Ese had revealed in a post on X that she had no bicycle to participate in the keirin & Sprint event, but fortunately the German team had come to her aid, allowing her to use their bike to compete.
She wrote: “Due to the short notice of me competing at the Keirin & Sprint, #teamNigeria, I had no bicycle to race on the tracks.
“In the spirit of sportsmanship, the German team @bunddeutscherradfahr came to my rescue by offering me a bicycle. Thank you”
#Paris2024@Paris2024
Due to the short notice of me competing at the keirin & Sprint, #teamNigeria I had no bicycle to race with on the tracks. In d spirit of sportsmanship the German team @bunddeutscherradfahr came to my rescue by offering me a bicycle.
Thank you🙌🙌🙌 https://t.co/OZf8tPZ3gS pic.twitter.com/AyrtQqrCe7— Ese lovina Ukpeseraye (@Ese_Ukpeseraye) August 8, 2024
Why Team Nigeria borrowed bicycle from German team—Sports minister
Following Ese Ukpeseraye’s social media outcry over her treatment by Team Nigeria at the games, Sports Minister Owan Enoh addressed the issue.
He said wrote on his account on X:“This reallocation to Nigeria was due to the disqualification of a country, leaving Nigeria as the next eligible to make the list of qualified countries to compete. Unfortunately, this additional slot required the use of a different competition equipment in terms of biking.
“For this track race reallocated to Team Nigeria, very special equipment (approved specifically for the Olympic track game) is used. It’ll take months to have it delivered after ordering and making payment.
“To therefore get Ese to compete, the Federation through Ese’s Club in Europe and working with a German-owned Company, got a ‘Track Bike’ for our cycler Ese.
“Tomorrow the 9th of August 2024, Ese will race in an individual sprint, the race she originally qualified for.”
My attention has been called to a post on social media by Ese Ukpeseraye. After reading the post and some follow up comments i swung into action. Ese's post seems to have been grossly misunderstood, perhaps also because it didn't seem to give proper context to the matter in… pic.twitter.com/zWk0wIkXV4
— Senator John Owan Enoh (@OwanEnoh) August 8, 2024
Ese will participate in an individual sprint event later today.
Meanwhile, Sports Buddy reported in other news that current world champion and 110-metre hurdles world record holder, Tobi Amusan, has suffered a shock exit from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
