Then the catalogue of negative stories during the Games. The escapade of the American swimmers Ryan Lochte, Jack Conger, Gunnar Bentz and Jimmy Feignen deserve the gold medal for sheer stupidity and crass irresponsibility. You may have noticed several Olympic athletes covered in bruises, including swimmers Elaine Thompson and US gymnast Simon Biles.
No, these are not minor injuries obtained during training; they look oddly circular and are located symmetrically all over the body. In fact, they are self-inflicted marks caused by an ancient form of therapy called “cupping”. Cupping has long existed in many cultures including China, ostensibly to stimulate the flow of energy in the body. In recent months, however, there has been a flurry of renewed interest in it.
It seems that cupping is having a comeback, and one does not need to be a clairvoyant to predict that, after the Olympic games, cupping will become the flavour of the month. Essentially there are two types: dry and wet cupping. Dry cupping involves a warm cup being placed over the skin. As the air in the cup cools it creates a suction effect which draws in the skin as the cup is placed on it.
The suction is usually strong enough to create a haematoma, a swelling of blood within the tissues that is much larger than a normal bruise. As the cup normally has a circular shape, the haematoma is circular as well. These are the strange marks we see on the Olympic athletes. Here are some of the disasters that emerged immediately after the last race of the Games.
“Anyone who wants to know how the Nigerian team is travelling at the ongoing Rio Olympic Games must take a look at the medal table. As at the time of writing, more than 70 countries have received medals of different colours. Nigeria is not one of them. In comparative terms, we have not improved on our dismal record at the 2012 London Olympic Games.
Essentially, we have been idle in the past four years. Nigeria has been deteriorating in sport. Following Nigeria’s exceptionally awful performance at the London Olympic Games, everyone thought we had learnt a sad lesson and would immediately put into action a systematic and sustained training regimen to prepare our sportsmen and women to turn things around, well ahead of the start of the Rio Olympic Games.
The harvest of failures at the Rio Games shows we learnt nothing and did nothing. Will we ever learn? What would it take to stir the sleeping giant of Africa to redeem its long lost image in international sport? Look at the tale of disasters at the Rio Games.
Blessing Okagbare, once the poster girl of Nigerian sports, who carried the nation’s hopes into the Games, faded out during the 100m semi-final race. With a time of 11.09 seconds in her semi-final, it was obvious she had not run fast enough to be in the top eight to compete in the finals of the women’s 100metres competition. Yet, on the day she arrived at the Nigerian camp in Rio, the atmosphere was practically electric, as if a saviour had entered the camp.
Everyone’s face lit up. Unfortunately, that redeemer was not able to save herself, her competition and Nigeria’s eagerness to win a medal. The only team that looks like salvaging something good enough to redeem Nigeria’s tattered image at the Rio Games is, ironically, the soccer squad that is tagged “Dream Team VI”. There is a hint of irony in that name.
A team that was constructed on fantasy because it had little preparation before the start of the Games seems to be the only hope we have to win a medal in Rio. Many Nigerians are hanging on a thread, hoping the “Dream Team VI” would overwhelm their German opponents when they meet today in the semi-final. Before our dreams can turn into reality, the Dream Team would have to overcome the German soccer team.
By the time you conclude reading this article today, the epic battle between “Dream Team VI” and Germany would have been fought, won, and lost. Ever since Nigeria won the first Olympic soccer gold medal in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, our soccer team has not come anywhere near playing in an Olympic soccer final.
That makes it 20 years this year since the nation rejoiced in one moment of national unity. That is what soccer can do to unify a fractured country. Mind you “Dream Team VI” did not get to the semi-final stage without sports ministry officials causing them pain through provocations, failed promises, unpaid allowances and benefits, and lots of adversities placed on their path. The Nigerian Bulletin – an online publication – reported last Friday that “Dream Team VI” team captain Mikel Obi shelled out over $4,000 from his personal wallet to rescue the players, who were held hostage by their hotel in Sao Paulo because the team could not pay their hotel bills.
The bills, you will be shocked to learn, were accumulated by leeches who paraded themselves as sports officials. This is how Nigerian officials abuse their privileges and undermine the efforts of sportsmen and women. It is ridiculous that while sportsmen and women are in Rio to compete in the Olympic Games, Nigeria sent too many officials who have no business being in Rio. They seem to be preoccupied by the food and drinks they consume and the estacode allowances they will earn. Every Olympic Games is a tale of sadness and anger. Nigerian sportsmen and women are not supported. They are not encouraged. They are not inspired. They are not rewarded.
Government officials show up only when there is food to consume or estacode allowances to collect. Many sportsmen and women participate in international competitions at their own expense and troubles. They lack basic training facilities, equipment and expertise; they are deprived of funds; they are exposed to harsh elements that are designed to make them fail.
Their accommodation is usually second-rate. The food they eat is no better than what you get at a roadside mobile canteen. On the rare occasion when a Nigerian athlete wins a medal in an international competition, we are dazed, we are taken by surprise, we express shock at the result because we didn’t expect any medals. Surely, you do not boil an empty pot and expect to produce a pot of soup filled with a variety of meat and vegetables.
Following the failure of Nigerian representatives to win a medal at the 2012 London Olympic Games, the then senate president, David Mark, attributed that to lack of funding. Former Minister of Sports, Taoheed Adedoja, criticised how senior officials were appointed to manage sports in the country.
He said mismanagement in sports must be attributed to the haphazard manner of appointment of people without professional training and skills to manage sports. In his view: “Anybody interested in sports administration should get a basic skill training that would qualify him to take charge. We should not leave sports administration in the hands of quacks.”
J.K. Randle
