When a country k!lls your dreams - Rufai Oseni writes as Nigerian athlete wins Olympic medal four years after switching to represent USA
Journalist Rufai Oseni has voiced his disappointment after Annette Echikunwoke, a former Nigerian representative, won an Olympic medal while competing for the USA.
Echikunwoke, a Nigerian-American hammer thrower, previously represented Nigeria at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. However, she was disqualified due to missing doping screenings, an oversight caused by an administrative error. This incident was part of a larger issue affecting several Nigerian athletes.
Now, competing for the USA, Echikunwoke has achieved Olympic success, highlighting the missed opportunities and administrative failures that have plagued Nigerian sports.
She later switched to represent the USA, and has now won Silver at the Hammer throw event at the Paris Olympics. read here.
Reacting to the win, Rufai wrote on X;
When a country kills your dreams. Name: Annette Echikunwoke. Picture 1: Representing Nigeria. Disqualified from Tokyo Olympics in 2020 due to senseless clerical error of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria. Picture 2: Representing America in 2024. Talent nurtured to the fullest. Silver medalist. Now the first Athlete representing America to win a medal at the Hammer throw.
