Nigerian Olympic Athletes Protest Disqualification at the Olympic Village

Chioma Onyekwere, a Nigerian athlete, had trained for years to hone her discus skills. Onyekwere thought that competing at the Tokyo Games to be the pinnacle of her career, but unfortunately this opportunity was taken away from her. Onyekwere was disqualified from the Tokyo Olympics because Nigerian athletic officials hadn’t conducted enough drug tests over the past several months. Chioma Onyekwere joins nine other Nigerian athletes who were neglected by their country to fulfill this requirement.

The 10 disqualified Nigerian track and field athletes took to the streets of the Olympic Village to protest the decision. They held signs that said; “All we wanted to do is compete,” “Dreams shattered,” and “Why should we suffer because of someone else’s negligence?” An official with Nigeria’s Ministry of Youth and Sports Development apologized to the athletes who were disqualified and stated; “It’s worthy to note that the 10 athletes did not test positive for any banned substance, but rather did not meet up with the last of the three out-of-competition tests.”

Source: NPR