Why Team Nigeria Failed At Paris Olympics – SPAN

The dismal performance of Team Nigeria at the concluded Paris 2024 Olympic Games in France has been attributed to the absence of Psychologists in the team.

Speaking at the Annual National Conference of the Sports Psychologists Association of Nigeria (SPAN) held at the National Institute of Sports in Lagos on Wednesday, Professor Clement Fasan, who presented the lead paper, said Nigeria would have fared better if Team Nigeria had been attached with sports psychologists.

Speaking under the theme: Optimizing Athletes Performance and Wellbeing: Challenges for Sports Stakeholders in the 21st Century, Professor Fasan said, “We can’t talk of optimizing athletes’ performance without their well-being or welfare. Athletes are fragile and have expiring dates. They are susceptible to injury which can be vital and cut short their career. We must develop programs and incentive methodologies to cater for their well-being and welfare. Without the help of a psychologist, the athletes cannot achieve much.”

Speaking in the same vein, Professor Seun Omotayo attributed Tobi Amusan’s failure at the Paris Games to lack of psychological management, saying both success and failure needs to be managed.

“Tobi Amusan’s failure was due to lack of psychological management. Sports are scientific without which talent and technique would not count for much. Coaching is an integral part of coaching philosophy.

In his own remarks, Director-General National Institute for Sports, Professor Olawale Moronkola, said the event is coming at a most auspicious time when Nigerian Sports is under scrutiny due to the poor performance in Paris. “The theme is timely in the quest of all stakeholders in the sports industry to propel better the fortunes of sports in all ramifications on Nigeria for better podium success in national and international competitions. We must take advantage of this event to correct a lot of things that have gone wrong in our sports.