As we bid 2024 farewell, sports followers can reflect on the events that will make the year unforgettable. From the Paris Olympics’ great spectacle to Nigeria’s shock yet exciting display at the AFCON and the unpalatable World Cup qualifying outings, not forgetting the individual brilliance and disappointment. TAIWO ALIMI reports.
The year 2024 will go down as a memorable one in the area of sports for the world, Africa, and Nigeria. It is the year of the Paris Olympics: a spectacle for the ages. It proved to be the most enthralling game of all time, from grand opening and closing ceremonies to the track, field, and road events. It was an Olympic game like no other.
Although Nigeria took part in the Olympics, it wasn’t a good story to tell so it’s better left to the second part of this piece.
FOOTBALL
AFCON SUCCESS
Nigeria kicked the year off on a good note with the Super Eagles surprising bookmakers and Nigerians at the postponed 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) hosted by Cote d’Ivoire. Under the supervision of Coach Jose Peseiro, Nigeria after wobbling into the finals, was not given a good rating leading to the championships, until the William Troost-Ekong captained side defeated hosts, Egypt, South Africa, and others to get to the final. But for the Trojan home support that propelled the host country to a 2-1 victory in Abidjan, Nigeria would have won its fourth AFCON title. Despite that, the Super Eagles returned to a hero’s welcome.
The high point of the tournament for Nigeria was the Super Eagles vice-captain Troost-Ekong being picked as the AFCON Most Valuable Player (MVP). He scored three goals during the tournament, including one in the final, while he and two other Eagles; Ola Aina and Ademola Lookman were included in the AFCON Best XI.
At the club level, some Nigerian players soared to Olympian height in 2014. It started with Ademola Lookman breaking the record by scoring three goals for Atalanta as they beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 in the Europa League final.
It was the first time a player had scored three goals in the final of a European second-division club competition. This and more triggered his nomination for the Ballon d’Or 2024. In the final list of 30 finalists, Lookman was ranked 14th, while Spanish and Manchester City star Rodri won the award.
To cap up the year, Lookman was named the 2024 CAF Player of the Year in Marrakech, Morocco, finishing ahead of Moroccan Achraf Hakimi.
Similarly, Super Falcon’s number one goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie retained the CAF Goalkeeper of the Year award. She was also in the running for the CAF Women’s Player of the Year award but lost to Zambia’s Barbra Banda.
VICTOR BONIFACE & NATHAN TELLA
Victor Boniface and Nathan Tella, a Nigerian duo, also helped Bayer Leverkusen become Bundesliga champions for the first time in the 2023/2024 season.
The historic title for Leverkusen, who finished the season in the league without defeat and were runners-up in the Europa League, shot up the profiles of Boniface and Tella.
They were both excellent in their contributions to the Bundesliga win and European runs. Boniface scored 14 goals in 23 games, while Tella netted five goals in 24 games. Their names became prominently in the news for the better part of the year.
VICTOR OSIMHEN
Osimhen also made the news significantly, but mostly for the wrong reasons. His transfer from his club Napoli was quite messy toward the end of the season. While he was hell-bent on leaving Italy, Napoli held on to him. Their approach was not in any way transparent, thereby scaring away prospective buyers. In the end, Galatasaray got the Nigerian star on loan and he has been banging in goals like there is no tomorrow.
This is not forgetting his social media angry outburst against former ex-international and Super Eagles coach Finidi George. Osimhen called out Finidi using derogatory words that put him in the bad books of many followers.
However, as soon as he began to hit the net inside the whole episode died a natural death.
Also, in the year 2024, Nigeria’s Super Eagles also booked their place at next year’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, finishing at the top of a group that included the Republic of Benin, Rwanda, and Libya in style as qualification was sealed with two games to go.
LIBYA DRAMA
Along the qualification route, yet another drama engulfed the media when the Super Eagles were stranded for over 17 hours at Al Abraq Airport in Libya ahead of their 2025 AFCON qualifier against Libya. Trust Nigeria to make a show of the ugly incident with its team denied food, water, and communication access.
The Nigeria team eventually returned home to launch a massive media campaign for justice and an official letter to CAF to award it three points and three goals as compensation.
CAF Disciplinary Committee subsequently awarded Nigeria a 3-0 victory in the abandoned qualifier, ruling that Libya breached Article 31 of the AFCON Regulations and Articles 82 and 151 of the CAF Disciplinary Code.
However, Nigeria’s chances of qualifying for the next World Cup hang in the balance. After four rounds of matches, the Super Eagles have three points, and occupy the fifth place on the table only ahead of Zimbabwe, with Rwanda and South Africa leading the pack. Nigeria will need to win all remaining matches to have a remote chance of qualifying for the World Cup in the US, Canada, and Mexico.
PARIS OLYMPICS
There isn’t any doubt that the Paris Olympics will be the biggest sporting event in 2024. It wowed the world from the beginning till the end. From colorful and closing ceremonies to the controversial boxing events throwing up gender issues the grand scenes on the River Seine and the imposing Eiffel Tower will be remembered for a long time. This is not forgetting the broken records, the comeback champions, the end-of-an-era Olympians, and the new kids on the block.
For Nigeria, the story wasn’t palatable. While Nigerians eagerly awaited the first medal, which unfortunately never came, Nigeria’s top performers headed by Tobi Amusan failed to shine. Amusan did not qualify for the 100mh final. It was the same result in wrestling, weightlifting, and boxing, where Nigeria was hoping to get medals.
PARIS SCANDAL
Then, the Paris scandal broke out. Favour Ofili, Nigeria’s 21-year-old sprinter, a rising sprinter got missing in action because Nigerian officials did not register her for the 100m event.
Upon returning to Nigeria, and after a probe panel submitted their findings, the Athletic Federation of Nigeria (AFN) was indicted and Ofili was awarded a $5000 compensation and two officers to be sanctioned.
Amid the darkness that overshadowed the Olympics, a bright light illuminated Nigeria’s female basketball team; D’Tigress.
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D’TIGRESS SHINES
Nigeria’s senior women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, had a memorable outing at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Drawn alongside heavyweights like Australia, France, and Canada, not many gave them a fighting chance.
To everyone’s surprise, the D’Tigress beat Australia on the first day, their first-ever group stage win at the Olympics.
Although they lost to France, they bounced back to surprise Canada, earning a ticket to the knockout stages and becoming the first African basketball team, male or female, to play in the Olympic quarterfinals.
Their campaign finally ended in a crushing defeat against the United States.
RENA WAKAMA
Rena Wakama, coach of the D’Tigress, also made history as she was named best female coach at the Paris Olympics. At only 32, Wakama put Nigeria on the podium and smiles on the faces of millions of Nigeria.
PARALYMPIC GAMES WINNERS ONYINYECHI MARK & FOLASHADE OLUWAFEMIAYO
The medals eventually poured in for Nigeria at the Paralympics games.
The Para-athletes put in a magnificent performance at the Paris 2024 Paralympics Games, with two gold, three silver, and two bronze medals. Records also tumbled with Onyinyechi Mark and Team Captain Folashade Oluwafemiayo breaking the 61kg and 86kg Para powerlifting events respectively.
Oluwafemiayo broke her world record in the women’s para-powerlifting over 86kg event, lifting 167kg to win gold, while Mark lifted 150kg to win Nigeria’s first gold in Paris.
BOXING: ANTHONY JOSHUA
While world boxing was aglow with defining bouts in 2024, a UK boxer with Nigerian roots Anthony Joshua ended the year in disappointing fashion.
His hopes of reclaiming heavyweight glory were dashed after a knockout loss to Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium. Dubois, the IBF heavyweight champion, knocked Joshua down twice before delivering the decisive blow in the fifth round.
Not many saw that coming after the emphatic second-round KO over crossover boxer Cameroonian Francis Ngannou.
The defeat marks Joshua’s second career knockout loss, dimming his chances of regaining a world title for the third time.
USYK V FURY
Joshua’s underperformance has not in any way put in the shade heavyweight boxing in the year. Heavyweight champions Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury did justice to the division with two superlative sold-out bouts that held the globe spellbound. The first happened in May and the second in December; a befitting way to round off the year.
If the first fight had left some questions hanging in the air, mainly because the result on the scorecards was not unanimous, the second, in December, Usyk put those doubts to rest, scoring a clear unanimous decision win over Fury at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi.
In May, Fury held the WBC title while Usyk owned the WBO, WBA, and IBF belts. Both men had unbeaten records with Fury checking in at 34-0-1, while Usyk had an unblemished 21-0 mark. The two put on one of the better heavyweight fights of recent memory that night. After 12 tightly contested rounds, the judges awarded the split decision to Usyk, making him the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis defeated Evander Holyfield in 1999.
The return bout also lived up to billing decent for ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ remembrance. Usyk retained his WBO, WBA, and WBC titles after a grueling 12-round rumble that got the arena on its feet through it all. With the win, Usyk extended his unbeaten streak. There is no doubt that Usyk’s name will be mentioned as an all-time great following his two wins over Fury. It is a promising way to end sports in 2024.