Sports Minister Reveals Why Nigerian Cyclist Borrowed A Bicycle At Paris Olympics

The Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Enoh, has explained why Nigerian cyclist Ese Ukpeseraye is using a borrowed bike from the German team at the ongoing Olympics in Paris, France.

Ese Ukpeseraye had revealed on X that she borrowed a bike to compete in the Keirin Sprint event.

Being the only African cyclist among 30 competitors, her gratitude towards the German team for lending her the bike sparked a lot of attention on social media.

Many Nigerians on social media criticized the authorities for not providing the necessary equipment.

However, in a detailed statement on X, Senator John Enoh clarified the situation, saying that Ese’s post was misunderstood.

The minister wrote, “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. It is important I make some clarifications.

“Abinitio, 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 different competition equipment in terms of biking.”

To solve the problem, the Nigerian federation, with help from Ese’s club in Europe and a German-owned company, arranged for a track bike for her.

“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.

“Tomorrow the 9th of August 2024, Ese will race in an individual sprint, the race she originally qualified for,” John Enoh said.

The sports minister emphasized the commitment to ensuring all athletes are well-supported and confirmed that Ese will have the necessary bike for her race.

Meanwhile, Nigerian women’s basketball team, D’Tigress crashed out of the the Paris 2024 Olympics on Wednesday after losing 88-74 to the United States in the quarterfinals.