Meanwhile, neither the NOC nor AFN has taken responsibility for the incident, with both bodies pushing the blame onto each other.
Nigerian cyclist Ese Ukpeseraye said she had to borrow a bicycle from the German team to compete in the Keirin and Sprint events at the ongoing 2024 Paris Olympics after the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) and Cycling Federation of Nigeria (CFN) failed to provide her with one.
“Due to the short notice of me competing in the Keirin & Sprint, #TeamNigeria, I had no bicycle to race with on the tracks. In the spirit of sportsmanship, the German team @bunddeutscherradfahr came to my rescue by offering me a bicycle,” the 25-year-old, who became the first Nigerian cyclist to compete at the Olympics, posted on social media.
The incident is the latest in a series of maladministration issues involving federations in charge of Team Nigeria at the Paris Games. The issues began a few days into the tournament after the negligence of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) and NOC denied Favour Ofili the chance to compete in the women’s 100m event.
In a statement on social media, the 21-year-old Ofili said she would not be participating in the 100m race after being informed that the NOC and AFN failed to submit her name for the event despite her qualifying by winning the National Olympic Trials in Benin.
Subsequently, sports minister John Enoh released a statement requesting details regarding the incident and tasked the NOC and AFN with ensuring Ofili’s participation in the 100m, but both bodies were unsuccessful in their late efforts to register the athlete to compete.
Meanwhile, neither the NOC nor AFN has taken responsibility for the incident, with both bodies pushing the blame onto each other.
