Sports Minister Explains Why Nigerian Athlete Used Borrowed Bicycle at Paris Olympics
The Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh, has provided an explanation for why Nigerian cyclist Ese Ukpeseraye had to borrow a bicycle from the German cycling team to compete in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
On Thursday, August 8, LIB shared a post from Ese on X, where she expressed gratitude to her German competitor, Bund Deutscher Radfahrer, who, in a remarkable act of sportsmanship, lent her a bicycle at the last minute. Due to the short notice she received to participate in the race, Ese didn’t have her own equipment ready. She competed in the Keirin and Sprint cycling events on Wednesday but was unable to advance after finishing in sixth place. Read more here.
Her post elicited reactions from Nigerians with many slamming the Nigerian government for causing Ese such a ‘’huge embarrassment.”
In a statement released last night, the Minister explained that Ese was not meant to compete in the race so the Federal government had no reason to procure a Bicycle for her. He said a country was disqualified from the race, creating an opening for Nigeria to participate, and it was at this point that Ese had no other option than to use the German contingent Bicycle. According to Enoh, it would not have been possible to get her one immediately as it takes months to get it delivered after making an order.
Read his statement below
‘’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 perspective. It is important i make some clarifications.
Abinitio, Team Nigeria qualified for one road race in cycling and prepared for it in terms of training and the appropriate competition equipment. Team Nigeria was fully prepared for this road race until two weeks ago after the Cycling team with the rest of Team Nigeria had already left for the Olympics, that a communication from the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) was received reallocating additional slots to the Cyclist Federation of Nigeria (Kerin and individual sprint). 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, a 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.”
