Delayed Honour for Olympians

Fri, Jul 26, 2013

By publisher

2 MIN READ

–

Six Nigerian athletes at the 2000 Sydney Olympics finally get their gold medals and financial rewards after 13 years

|  By Vincent Nzemeke  |  Aug. 5, 2013 @ 01:00 GMT

IT WAS a night of honour for six Nigerian athletes on Wednesday July 24, 2013 as they were showered with financial rewards thirteen years after they did the country proud at the Sydney 2000 Olympic held in Australia. The team which comprised of late Sunday Bada, Clement Chukwu; Jude Monye; Fidelis Gadzama; Aniefiok Udobong; and Nduka Nwanze won a silver medal in the 4x400m men’s relay at the Sydney 2000 Olympics. But the medal was upgraded to gold after the International Olympic Committee stripped the former winners from the United States of America of the gold medal for using banned substances. A member of the U.S. team, late Antonio Pettigrew, had confessed to having taken some performance enhancing drugs at the time of the games.

Each member of the team got a cash reward of N5 million while the duo Innocent Egbunike and Solomon Abari who coached the team smiled home with N7 million each from President Goodluck Jonathan. The president also promised that the athletes and their coaches would also to get national honours soon.

In an emotion laden ceremony, Olasumbo, widow of the late Sunday Bada, who was also the captain of the team, shed tears. She lamented the fact that her late husband was not physically present to receive his honour from the president.

The meeting of the president and the athletes was facilitated by the Nigeria Olympic Committee, NOC, Athletics Federation of Nigeria, AFN, and the National Sports Commission, NSC.

Commending the president’s gesture, Mary Onyali honouring the athletes would motivate the younger ones to embrace other sports aside from football. “His decision to meet and honour the Sydney gold medallists has given hope to other sports that it is not only footballers that have the exclusive eyes and ears of those in authority. This singular honour will motivate other sports to also win glories for Nigeria.”