Paris Olympics: Sports minister clarifies why Ese Ukpeseraye raced on borrowed bicycle

Nigeria’s Minister of Sports, John Enoh, has clarified the circumstances that led Nigerian cyclist Ese Ukpeseraye to compete on a borrowed bicycle during one of the Paris 2024 Olympic races.

Enoh explained that Team Nigeria had not initially planned to participate in the specific race in question, and therefore, no prior preparations were made.

According to the Minister, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) reallocated additional slots to the Cyclist Federation of Nigeria for the Keirin and individual sprint events after Team Nigeria had already departed for the Olympics. This reallocation occurred due to the disqualification of another country, making Nigeria the next eligible nation to compete.

Ukpeseraye revealed on her X account that the short notice left her without a bicycle suitable for the tracks. The specialised bike required for the newly allocated race would have taken months to be delivered after ordering. To ensure Ukpeseraye could compete, the Nigerian Federation, with the help of her European club and a German company, secured a ‘Track Bike’ for her use.

In his statement, Enoh emphasised that Ukpeseraye’s post may have been misunderstood due to a lack of context and provided detailed clarification on the situation.

“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. I must make some clarifications.

“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, when 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,” the minister said on his X account