They said that the track and field would be the biggest event this time at the Paris Olympics. The Stade de France, shaped like an amphitheater, heightens the anticipation as the chosen venue. But they never mentioned that unfortunate withdrawals could overshadow the same Olympics.

At first, Jamaican field athlete Nayoka Clunis had to see the exit gate even before riding the flight bound for the Paris Olympics. She had the needed qualifications, but the authorities acted as the villain. Yolanda Ngarambe also had the same fate. Now the list extends with the entry of another athlete. 

On Tuesday, the Nigerian sprinter Favour Ofili penned a detailed Instagram post, protesting against her country’s sporting officials. The Athletics Federation of Nigeria and the Nigerian Olympic Committee couldn’t register her name in the 100m event at the Paris Olympics. As a result, the LSU standout will miss the penultimate event.

She had almost a similar experience last time as well, and that time too, Favour missed the Olympics. Noting all those irreversible occurrences, the 21-year-old athlete wrote, “In the last Olympic Games I was not able to compete because AFN, NADC and NOC failed to release funds for athletes in the USA to be tested, which made 14 Nigeria 🇳🇬 athletes that qualified to not compete. Now THIS……..If those responsible are NOT held accountable for taking this opportunity from me, neither organization can EVER be trusted in the future!”  Seriously, the words have emphasized her heartbreak. But she still has options ready to make her words clear enough. 

Apart from the 100m event, Favour has two more events left to enter the biggest sporting affair on earth. She has qualifications in both the 200m and 4x100m sprints. And the probability of making it memorable for her is also large. 

In her statements on Instagram, Favour claimed that she had utilized four years to make her preparation foolproof. Now, as the major competitions are just days away, she expects that the authority will not spread more pebbles on her way to glory. Expressing that mindset, she marked “I HOPE IM ENTERED”. But repetitions of such missing out cases could never bring in a positive result. 

Paris Olympics will miss some fiery athletes because of authorities’ fault 

Recently, the head coach of MVP, Jamaica’s premier athletic coaching facility, Stephen Francis, lambasted the responsible authorities for failing to bring Nayoka Clunis to the Paris Olympics. The coach could not digest that there would have been such malpractices, which could leave the best hammer thrower in the country far away from the Olympics. However, Nayoka tried everything to make her case clear. 

The complaint was that the Jamaican sporting authority failed to put her name in the Paris Olympics squad despite qualifying. Furthermore, Nayoka’s performance made her one of the 32 top hammer throwers globally this year. She has a national record in the event, and in the Jamaican trials, she took over the second rank to make her selection confirmed. But when the registration came, the officials didn’t have an answer for their failure to add her name.

Meanwhile, Nayoka Clunis moved to the Court of Arbitration for Sports to get justice. The ad hoc division took up her case, and the date was fixed for the judgment. However, after checking through all the points, the division informed that it had no jurisdiction to claim her eligibility for the Paris Olympics. This put a death knell on the hammer thrower’ wish to feature at the biggest stage. Favour Ofili still has her gates open in the 200m and 4x100m relay events. What do you think—would she be able to utilize the chances? Let us know.