TheCable

The year 2021 was eventful for Nigerian sports as several athletes represented the green and white flag in various global competitions.

After the disappointment and restriction that the COVID-19 pandemic placed on international competitions in the previous year, Nigerian athletes were hungry to compete and make the country proud with their talents.

From the podiums of the Tokyo Olympics to the tracks of the Diamond League finals in Zurich to the packed auditorium of the World Table Tennis (WTT) championship in Houston, Nigerian athletes did not just obey the clarion call; they turned it to victory tune.

Here are 10 of those heroes who made Nigeria proud in 2021:

Blessing Oborududu

Blessing Oborududu won Nigeria’s best medal at Tokyo Olympics after securing a silver in the women’s freestyle 68kg wrestling category.

The 32-year-old Nigerian achieved the feat after losing 4-1 to USA’s Tamyra Stock-Mensah in the final.

Oborududu had qualified for the final after outwrestling Elis Manolova of Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan’s Meerim Zhumanazarova in the preceding rounds.

Her medal in Tokyo was the country’s first-ever in wrestling at the Olympics.

Ese Brume

Ese Brume won Nigeria’s only other medal at the Tokyo Olympics after she clinched the bronze medal in the long jump event.

Brume jumped 6.97 meters to finish behind Malaika Mihambo, the reigning world champion, and Brittney Reese, who won gold in London 2012.

Tobi Amusan

Tobi Amusan overcame a disappointing fourth-place finish at the Tokyo Olympics and became the first Nigerian to win a World Athletics Diamond League trophy.

The 24-year-old clocked 12.42 seconds in the Diamond League final in Zurich to clinch the title.

Amusan also broke Gloria Alozie’s 23-year-old national record and became Africa’s fastest hurdler in the women’s category.

Aruna Quadri

In 2021, Aruna Quadri serially demonstrated his status as Africa’s best table tennis player. Twice he broke the African record on the ITTF rankings – 15th in September and 13th in November.

He also became the first-ever African player to qualify for the quarter-finals of the World Table Tennis (WTT) championship.

Aruna defeated Sweden’s Kristian Karlsson to achieve the feat at the 2021 edition of the championship held in the US.

Enoch Adegoke

Enoch Adegoke became the first Nigerian man to qualify for the final of the 100 meters at the Olympics in 25 years.

The 23-year-old dipped 10.00 seconds to finish second in heat 2 of the semi-final to break the 25-year-old jinx.

Nigeria had not been represented in the men’s sprint final at the games since Davidson Ezinwa achieved the feat in Atlanta ’96.

Adegoke was, however, unable to conclude the final as his right hamstring baulked during the race.

Abiola Ogunbanwo

Seventeen-year-old Abiola Ogunbanwo became the first Nigerian female to finish the women’s 100 meters freestyle in swimming under one minute.

The teenager posted a new personal best of 59.74 seconds in heat 2 of the women’s 100 meters freestyle and surpassed a longstanding Nigerian record of 1:00.50 set by Ngozi Monu, which had served as the benchmark since 2007.

Udodi Onwuzurike

Udodi Onwuzurike stormed to gold in the men’s 200m at the 2021 World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Nairobi to become the first Nigerian to achieve the feat since Francis Obikwelu won the event in Sydney in 1996.

The 18-year-old also set a new championship record with his 20.13 seconds dip in the final.

D’Tigress

Nigeria’s D’Tigress were crowned champions of Africa for the third consecutive time after defeating Mali 70-59 in the final of the 2021 Afrobasket championship in Cameroon.

They became the second team ever to achieve such a feat after Senegal won the tourney four times between 1974 and 1981.

Paul Onuachu

After an outstanding 2020/21 season where he bagged 33 goals in 38 league appearances, Onuachu was named the Belgian league player of the year.

His brilliant goal-scoring spree also earned him the league’s golden boot prize.

Kelechi Iheanacho

Kelechi Iheanacho’s exploits for Leicester City in 2021 earned him an affable nickname “Senior man Kelz” amongst football fans across the globe.

The 24-year-old’s blistering form in the year earned him the EPL player of the month award for March.

The Leicester forward joined the likes of Austin Jay-Jay Okocha (November 2003), Peter Osaze Odemwingie (September 2010, April 2011, November 2012), and Odion Jude Ighalo (December 2015) as the only Nigerians who have snagged the monthly award.

He was also instrumental to the Foxes winning their first-ever English FA cup, scoring several winning goals en route to the milestone.