Ayomide Bello and Beauty Otudeo will represent Nigeria in the canoeing event of the 2024 Olympic Games, starting in Paris on July 26. PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
They qualified for the C1 (200 m) and C2 (500 m) events, respectively, and will be paddling their boats in Paris as the country continues to gain ground in the sport.
This will be the fourth consecutive Olympics that Team Nigeria will be participating in the canoeing event since Jonathan Akinyemi participated at the 2012 edition in London.
At just 17, Bello became the first female Nigerian canoeist to compete at the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020 after beating out other African contenders at the C1 200 event at Africa’s Tokyo 2020 qualifiers in Morocco to claim the spot.
In March of that year, she became the first Nigerian to win gold at an international sporting event when she claimed the top trophy at the Open International Canoe Sprint Competition in India.
Beauty, who paired Bello to win the women’s C2 500m event at the Canoe Sprint African Paris 2024 Qualifier in Nigeria, has not found it easy and recently recalled her journey into canoeing in 2015 with her voice trembling with emotion.
In 2018, Otuedo decided to give canoeing one last shot with her elder brother, Goodluck Gbamire, coaching her.
“I participated in several national competitions, including the African Admiral Porbeni Event, and won bronze,” Otuedo told Olympics.com of her comeback.
The athlete persevered and was rewarded with victory at the Canoe Sprint African Olympic Qualifier.
Competing alongside Ayomide Bello, the Nigerian duo took just 2.24.45 seconds to seal top spot in the women’s C2 500m category on home water at Jabi Lake. They also secured an Olympic quota for Paris in 2024.
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