Nigeria’s Chukwuebuka Enekwechi says he is undeterred in his quest for a medal at the Tokyo Games after he shared a video of himself washing his “only” jersey ahead of his next outing.
The US-based shot-putter grabbed headlines on Tuesday after he posted a video of himself washing his jersey in a sink under running tap water.
“When you made the Olympic Finals, but you only have one jersey,” he captioned the now-deleted TikTok video which went viral and sparked debates about the welfare of Nigeria’s contingent to Japan.
But on Wednesday, Enekwechi assured Nigerians that the development has not affected his preparations for the shot put finals where he is expected to make a podium finish.
“Nigerians I am fine. I am glad I made the finals and happy to represent Nigeria. Don’t worry about unnecessary distraction!” he posted on his Instagram stories.
“Everything is sorted out and I am focused on competing tomorrow and being at my best,” the three-time national champion and two-time African champion added.
The shot put final at the Tokyo Olympics is scheduled for Friday, August 5, and Enekwechi is expected to add to Nigeria’s medal haul in the sports fiesta.
Nigeria’s sports ministry as well as the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) are yet to comment on the matter as of the time of this report.
Enekwechi is the latest among Nigerian athletes to provide insight about the country’s sports administrators about the nation’s mishaps at the Tokyo Olympics.
D’ Tigers forward Chimezie Metu also faulted the ministry of sports and the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) for the team’s outing in Tokyo.
The 24-year-old in a social media post claimed that the team was distracted by many “off-the-court” matters which eventually affected their performances.
It hasn’t all been complaints and embarrassment in Japan, however, as the country won two medals – one bronze and silver – On Tuesday.
Ese Brume had won bronze in long jump to put Nigeria on the medals table after a series of near misses in the previous week.
She leaped a best jump of 6.97m behind Germany’s Malaika Mihambo and Brittney Reese of the United States of America who claimed the gold and silver medals respectively.
Blessing Oborududu also claimed silver in the women’s freestyle 68kg wrestling, bringing more cheering news to the country.
