On Sunday, the 2020 Paralympics Games in Tokyo, Japan came to a successful end for the hosts with an elaborate and psychedelic closing ceremony full of fanfare and glamour. It was the 16th edition of a quadrennial competition that celebrates athletes with physical and intellectual disabilities while focusing world attention on their grit and determination to compete at the highest levels.
The Games held within very strict COVID-19 health and safety protocols that marked Japan’s hosting of the Summer Olympics earlier. They began on Tuesday, August 24 and wrapped up on Sunday, September 5 with a total of 539 medal events in all.
Nigeria, whose Paralympics debut came in the 1992 Summer Paralympics in Barcelona, where a delegation of six male athletes competed in the track and field, powerlifting and table tennis events, sent a total of 22 athletes to this year’s Paralympics Games to represent the country in four events: Powerlifting, Athletics, Table Tennis and Rowing.
By Sunday’s closing ceremony, Nigeria was 33rd on the medals table with four gold, one silver and five bronze medals for a total haul of 10 medals. Having participated in every subsequent edition of the Summer Paralympics since the 9th edition in Barcelona in 1992, Team Nigeria finished as the fourth best African team at the Games.
North Africa made a great showing in Tokyo as all three African countries that finished above Nigeria were from the north of the continent. Tunisia finished in 28th place as Africa’s best at Tokyo 2020. They took home four gold, five silver and two bronze medals to end with a total of 11. Immediately following them with a total of 12 medals was Algeria in 29th place having won four gold, four silver and four bronze medals.
In 30th place on the medals table was Morocco. They finished with four gold, four silver and three bronze medals to go home with 11 medals in all. Behind Nigeria was an African country at the other end of the contingent, South Africa. The Rainbow Nation finished 34th overall with four gold, one silver and two bronze medals.
It represents a downgrade for Nigeria in terms of value when taken from the point of view of the gold medals that Nigeria mustered in the two Paralympics that preceded the Tokyo Games this year.
At the Paralympics in London in 2012, Nigeria’s 27-man strong contingent finished the summer competition with 6 gold, 5 silver 2 bronze for a 13-medal total haul. Then, Team Nigeria ended the Games in 22nd place overall and as the third best country from the continent. Ahead of Nigeria again was Tunisia in 14th place, with 9 gold, 5 silver and 5 bronze for a total of 19 medals. The second best African country was the 18th-placed South Africa, whose total of 29 medals included 8 gold, 12 silver and 9 bronze.
That strong performance was improved upon four years later in Brazil at the Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. Nigeria finished as the 17th country on the table as her 23 athletes had the best Games on record since the country’s 1992 Barcelona debut. The record of 8 gold, 2 silver 2 bronze medals was even bettered by the world records set by Paul Kehinde, Lucy Ejike and Bose Omolayo in their events in the Powerlifting category.
Nigeria expectedly finished as the highest ranked African country in Rio. Once more, Tunisia kept up her impressive showing at the Paralympics, following in 21st place with 7 gold, 6 silver and 6 bronze medals for a total collection of 19. The North African country was closely followed by South Africa in 22nd place with 7 gold, 6 silver and 4 bronze for a total of 17 medals.
The 22 athletes that went to Tokyo this year were expected to, if nothing else, match that performance rather than fall short. But a 33rd place finish was way below the 17th position it finished in at the Games in Brazil and the final 4 gold medals this year was a paltry halving of the 8 from five years ago. Instead, the athletes catered even more bronze this time around.
At the end of proceedings, China finished in dominant fashion as the best country on the medals table in an improvement over the the Summer Games where it came second behind Team USA. China ended the competition with 96 gold, 60 silver and 51 bronze medals, followed in distant second by Great Britain that had 41 gold, 38 silver and 45 bronze medals in comparison.
At the closing ceremony, Andrew Parsons, the President of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), said: “Together, against the odds, we did it. The Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games have not just been historic — they have been fantastic. In 12 magical days, athletes gave the world confidence, happiness, and hope.
“Athletes broke records, athletes won hearts, athletes opened minds. Importantly, athletes changed lives.”
After a ceremony that lasted about two hours and which took place in a near-empty stadium without spectators amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as was the case with the Summer Olympics earlier, the curtain was drawn and the flag handed over to Paris as the hosts for the next Games.
Back home in Nigeria, the aftermath of the Games must include an account of what went well, as four gold medals are encouraging, and what did not, especially given that 10 medals came from a contingent of 22. Then, there ought to follow an analysis of how outcomes can be improved with recommendations for participation in more events to improve the country’s chances of medals.
Furthermore, the country’s sports administrators ought to map out strategies that will see to investments in the welfare, training and preparation of the country’s athletes with physical and intellectual disabilities as much as, if not more than, their non-challenged counterparts.
Even if they did not match or improve on the record from 2016 in Rio, they fared far better than the 60 athletes that represented Nigeria at the Summer Games and who barely managed to finish with one silver and one bronze with no gold medals to speak of.
Encouragement from private bodies and more government funding for their training and preparations will see them even do more, as it will encourage other people with physical challenges but who have the guts and talents to consider competing and possibly push Nigeria’s non-challenged athletes to do more to meet up.
