Nigeria's participation in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games would have been a calamity and each day of the summer Games, Nigerians and Nigeria's hope for a medal crashed like a pack of cards, local media reported on Saturday.
As smaller countries like West African neighbours Togo recorded her name on the medals log very early in the competition through canoe/kayak won by Benjamin Boukpeti.
Gloom, which had enveloped Team Nigeria's camp since Olympic Games began, evaporated a bit Friday when the nation won two bronze medals in athletics.
Long Jumper, Blessing Okagbare, opened the way for Nigeria when she won the first of the two bronze medals with a jump of 6.91m.
A few minutes later, the Team Nigeria 4x100m women quartet, anchored by Damola Osayomi, won another bronze medal.
Okagbare must have been destined to win a medal at this games.
In the qualifying rounds for the long jump, Okagbare failed to make the mark. She neither jumped the 6.75m mark that would have qualified her for the final, nor was she among the top 12, as she finished 13th.
When all hopes had been lost on Okagbare's appearance in the final, the IAAF, athletics governing body, sent out a letter that one of the 12 qualifiers had tested positive to performance enhancing drug, so Okagbare was eligible to compete in the final.
In her very first jump, Okagbare jumped 6.91m, which gave her the bronze medal, just like the case of Chioma Ajunwa at the Atlanta Olympics 12 years ago. The difference is that Ajunwa got the gold while Okagbare settled for the bronze medal.
Brazil's Higa Maggi won the gold medal with a jump of 7.04m, while Russia's Lebedeva Tatyana won the silver.
An elated Okagbare could not control her emotions after the event, beaming with joy at her feat.
At the mixed zone, Okagbare gave the glory for her medal to God. "I thank the Almighty God for giving me the grace to win this medal. This is the best day of my life. I give glory to God because He did this for me. I dedicate this medal to all Nigerians and to my mentor, Solomon Ogba," she said.
Just as Nigerians were celebrating Okagbare's victory, the quartet of Idoko Franca, Kemasuede Gloria, Halimat Ismaila and Damola Osayomi, who ran a blistering anchor, gave Nigeria another bronze medal.
While Okagbare did not initially qualify for the long jump finals, the women relay team was not originally billed to be in the Beijing Olympics.
The IAAF only invited the team to the Olympics because two teams that were supposed to participate in the event withdrew at the last minute. And because the world athletics body wanted to complete the number of teams for the event to 16, it invited Nigeria to present a team. And the girls delivered the goods yesterday.
Only the first 16th ranked teams qualify for the Olympics, and being 18th, Nigeria did not merit a place in the Beijing line-up until two teams withdrew from the race.
Nigeria, which has always been a force in the relays, failed to make the initial list because the country did not participate in adequate championships to earn the points required for qualification for the event.
(Xinhua News Agency August 23, 2008)