Nigerian Olympic cyclist Ese Ukpeseraye thanks the German team for lending him a bicycle

Nigeria’s first Olympic cyclist has expressed gratitude to the German team for giving her a bike to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics as she was unable to find one on her own.

Ese Ukpeseraye initially signed up for the women’s road race, but within “a short period of time” entered two track events that required different types of bicycles. She said on social media platform X.

The 25-year-old wrote that the German team came to her rescue in the spirit of sportsmanship as she had no bike to race on.

Her post prompted some Nigerians online to question the competence of the country’s sports department, but Nigeria’s sports minister insisted the situation was inevitable.

John Owen Ino said the International Cycling Union (UCI), the world’s top governing body for cycling, offered Nigeria two places in the women’s track race at the last minute “due to the disqualification of a certain country”.

Mr Ino said the proposal came after Ukpeselaye and the rest of the Nigerian team arrived in Paris for the tournament.

“The athletics competition, which was reallocated to the Nigerian team, used very special equipment (approved specifically for Olympic athletics competitions),” He posted on X.

“It takes several months for delivery after ordering and paying.”

However, online commentators remained sceptical. Some linked Ukpeselaye’s case to an incident earlier in the Games, when Nigerian sprinter Favor Ofili found out at the last minute that she could not compete in the women’s 100m race because she had been excluded from the roster.

“I was going to ask what happened to Favour Ofili who missed the 100m race because the person responsible for filling in her entry didn’t? Will the import take months too?” wrote one X user.

Others have asked why Nigeria has yet to win any medals at this year’s Olympics. The result has even frustrated the Nigerian government – the Ministry of Information said in a statement: Recent Press Releases.

In this year’s competition, Ukpeselaye became the first Nigerian, male or female, to compete in the cycling event.

Her first race was the women’s road race, but she was one of many athletes who failed to complete the 154 km (96 mi) distance.

“It is an honour to represent Nigeria at this level,” she was quoted as saying by Nigerian media. “Even though I didn’t finish, just being here is a victory in itself.”

Ukpeselaye also missed the finals in two track and field events she competed in – she was sixth in the keirin preliminaries and 28th in the sprint qualifying.

However, she remains proud of her achievement, writing on X that she had “pioneered cycling in Nigeria.”