Team Nigerian Paralympians set as Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games begins

The Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games begins on Tuesday (today) with 22 athletes representing Nigeria in four events at the Games.

Nigeria will feature in powerlifting, para-athletics, para-table tennis and para-rowing, with the athletes hoping to surpass the country’s best-ever achievement at the Rio 2016 Games.

Team Nigeria was 17th on the medals table with eight gold, two silver and two bronze medals.

The country made its Paralympics debut in Barcelona in 1992, with six athletes coming back home with three gold medals. Sprinter Adeoye Ajibola won two gold medals, while Patrick Akutaekwe won gold in para-powerlifting.

The country did better in Atlanta in 1996, winning eight medals — three gold, two silver, and three silver medals — with Ajibola repeating his feat four years earlier, claiming two gold medals and one silver medal.

Akutaekwe was again one of the medallists, winning bronze.

The Sydney 2000 Paralympics had Nigeria’s highest contingents, with the country sending 31 athletes, who returned home with 13 medals — seven gold, one silver and five bronze medals.

Sprinter Adekunle Adesoji was Nigeria’s star at the Athens 2004 Athens Paralympics, claiming three gold medals. The nation’s contingent won a total of five gold, four silver and three bronze medals for a total medal haul of 12.

In the Beijing 2008 Paralympics, Nigeria continued her impressive record, winning four gold, four silver medals and one bronze medal respectively, with Adesoji part of the medalists, this time claiming a silver medal.

London 2012 Paralympics was also a success story for Nigeria, with the country winning six gold, five silver and two bronze medals.

Team Nigeria captain, Lucy Ejike, 44, will be featuring in her sixth Paralympics after making her debut at Sydney 2000.

She has won a medal in each of the Games she has been in, winning gold medals in 2004, 2008 and 2016 and silver medals in 2000 and 2012.