By Victor Kanayo
A Nigerian cyclist, Ese Lovina Ukpeseraye, has revealed how she had to borrow a bicycle from a German cycling team to compete at the ongoing 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France.
The Nigerian cyclist who disclosed this in a tweet on her X account on Thursday, said she needed to borrow the bicycle after a short notice was given for her qualification to participate.
The cyclist said she had “no bicycle to race with on the tracks”, and the German team came to her rescue.
Ukpeseraye said, “Due to the short notice of me competing at 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. Thank you.”
Ukpeseraye made history as the first Nigerian cyclist to represent the country at the Olympic Games.
She competed in the women’s road race on August 4 but did not register a score after failing to complete the event.
On Wednesday, the 25-year-old raced in the Keirin and Sprint cycling event, finishing sixth in the first round. Later in the day, she also failed to secure qualification through the repechage.
Long Jump
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s chase for the first medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics continued as Ese Brume finished fifth in the final of the women’s long jump.
Brume was one of the three Nigerians in the final, the first time the nation had three athletes in the final of an Olympic track and field event.
Brume had a best jump of 6.70 which she achieved in both the fourth and sixth rounds, while Ruth Usoro jumped 6.58m to finish 10th and Prestina Ochonogor 6.24m to finish 12th.
Wrestling
Earlier on Thursday, Nigeria’s Odunayo Adekuoroye lost 8-10 to China’s Hong Kexin in the women’s freestyle 57-kilogramme event of the 2024 Olympic Games wrestling competition.
In the quarter-final match at the Champ-de-Mars Arena in Paris, both wrestlers were even by the end of the bout’s first period despite the Nigerian’s early lead.
But Hong pulled away in the second period, scoring technical points freely as she headed into the semi-final.
