Four years after the nation gained her independence from the British government, Nigeria would participate in an Olympic event and win her very first medal as a sovereign state.
The 1964 Summer Olympics, also known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event staged in the heart of Tokyo, Japan from October 10, 1964, to October 24, 1964. It was the first time the Olympic Games was awarded to an Asian country. More so, the Japanese were quite eager to prove to the world that they had completely recovered from the hell-on-earth that was World War II.
The games were the first to be telecast internationally without the need for tapes to be flown overseas like it was done four years earlier at the 1960 Olympics. It was also the first time that the world had the chance to watch the Olympics in colour broadcast, albeit partially, as not all events were in colour.
Nigeria fielded a total of 18 athletes (16 males and two females), competing in two sports; Athletics and Boxing. At the end of the light-middleweight event, a Nigerian stood on the podium for the first time in the country’s history.
Nojim Maiyegun
At a time where Nigeria, though independent, was yet to firmly find her footing in the world system and prove her worth as the great Giant of Africa to the globe, Nojim Maiyegun sure did put the spotlight on the nation as the world witnessed our first ever Olympic medal victory after Team Nigeria’s first participation at the 1952 summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland.
Maiyegun won Nigeria the Bronze medal in the men’s light-middleweight event, adding his name to the country’s Olympics history books for all time.
Feature image: ots.at