Five ‘Nigerians’ who won medals for other countries
There is hardly any top sporting competition in the world that Nigerian names don’t pop up even if the Green and White flag of the country is conspicuously absent.
From the American Super Bowl to the NBA and even the recent Euro 2020, participants with Nigerian lineage are always present.
The situation was not any different at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics even though Team Nigeria was actually on parade in Japan – returning home with two medals.
The 27-year old was part of the all-conquering Italian Men’s 4x100m quartet that stormed to gold in Tokyo.
Though Desalu is of Nigerian origin, he was born and raised in Italy and acquired full Italian citizenship in 2012.
“I have never been to Nigeria and, right now [2019], I don’t feel the need to go. I don’t even know the national anthem of Nigeria. My roots are in Africa and I don’t ignore them but I consider myself deeply Italian,” Eseosa said.
While Desalu is celebrating his gold for Italy, Nigeria failed to qualify for the men’s 4x100m event in Tokyo despite pushing hard after failing to attend the World Relays where they could have gotten a ticket more easily.
Ujah Chindu
Competing in his second Olympic Games for Great Britain after his debut in Rio, Ujah narrowly missed out on the 4x100m gold but would be pleased with the silver nonetheless.
Ujah’s father was an engineer who moved from Nigeria to England as a boy. The sprinter admits it was difficult convincing his father that a career in athletics was the right choice for him.
“I used to play football for my local club and was pretty good. Dad was not too impressed about football and he didn’t like the idea of me going pro. When I was doing athletics he thought it was just a hobby, and I set my heart on showing him that it wasn’t just a little thing on the side.
“He got a letter in the post when I was 17 saying I’d been selected for the …
