--- title: How the Nigerian Bobsled Team Slid to the Winter Olympics description: What began as a GoFundMe page in 2016 turned into the first African bobsled team to compete in the sport at the 2018 Winter Olympics canonical: https://time.com/5104583/watch-the-nigerian-bobsled-teams-olympic-journey/ author: Sean Gregory article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-17T20:10:50.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T08:46:23.584Z article:section: Sports og:title: Watch the Nigerian Bobsled Team's Inspiring Olympic Journey og:description: The women will be the first African country to compete in the sport og:url: https://time.com/5104583/watch-the-nigerian-bobsled-teams-olympic-journey/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8efed23e257b786d/6988f8894ee262f803310872/nigeria-bobsled-team-pyeongchang-olympics.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2405 og:image:height: 1353 og:image:alt: nigeria-bobsled-team-pyeongchang-olympics og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch the Nigerian Bobsled Team's Inspiring Olympic Journey twitter:description: The women will be the first African country to compete in the sport twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8efed23e257b786d/6988f8894ee262f803310872/nigeria-bobsled-team-pyeongchang-olympics.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch the Nigerian Bobsled Team's Journey to the Winter Olympics > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## Video: Meet The Nigerian Bobsled Team Making History at the 2018 Olympics [Watch (HLS stream): Meet The Nigerian Bobsled Team Making History at the 2018 Olympics](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/E2cYJx3U.m3u8) (3:59)  _Published 2018-01-16. The Nigerian Women's Bobsled team will be the first bobsled team, male or female, from the continent of Africa to compete at the Winter Olympics._ by [Sean Gregory](https://time.com/author/sean-gregory/) and [Julia Lull](https://time.com/author/julia-lull/) Jan 17, 2018 8:10 PM UTC by [Sean Gregory](https://time.com/author/sean-gregory/) and [Julia Lull](https://time.com/author/julia-lull/) Jan 17, 2018 8:10 PM UTC Seun Adigun launched a GoFundMe page in 2016 to help finance an outlandish Olympic pursuit: Start a women’s bobsled team in Nigeria, a country with a sub-Saharan climate, and become the first team from Africa to compete in the sport at the 2018 [Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea](http://time.com/4932670/2018-winter-olympics-when-where/). Like a character out of _Cool Runnings_—the movie that chronicled the Jamaican bobsled team’s longshot journey to the 1988 Olympics—Adigun, 31, handcrafted a wooden training sled named the Maeflower, after her stepsister who died in a car accident in 2009 (her nickname was Mae Mae). Adigun depleted her savings while teammates Akuoma Omeoga, 25, and Ngozi Onwumere, 26, who are pushers on the Nigerian bobsled team, put white-collar careers on hold to slide around icy curves at 80 miles per hour. When Adigun, who in December earned a masters degree in exercise and health sciences and became a doctor of chiropractic, pitched Nigerian sports officials about starting a bobsled federation, they seemed a bit bewildered. “You don’t even have to be in Nigeria to be confused as to why three Nigerians who live in Texas are competing in the sport of bobsled,” she says. What started out as a quixotic quest has become another story worthy of Hollywood: Adigun and her sled have qualified for the 2018 Winter Olympics in the two-person event (the only one for women) in PyeongChang, having picked up Under Armour and Visa as sponsors. The athletes also landed a [Beats by Dr. Dre](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esPZqvJPrnU) spot. All the members of the Nigerian bobsled team are former top-flight college sprinters with dual Nigerian-American citizenship. Adugin went to Houston and ran the 100-meter hurdles for Nigeria at the ’12 Summer Olympics, Onwumere also went to Houston and Omeoga attended Minnesota. When Adigun recruited Onwumere and Omeoga to join the Nigerian bobsled team, they were properly skeptical. “I guess I’m a sporadic thinker, or I make rash decisions, but I was like, ‘yeah, sure,'” says Omeoga. “Afterwards, I was like, ‘I need to call somebody else and get a second, third, or fourth opinion.” “Once she explained that this was for a continent,” says Onwumere, “I was like, ‘yeah, it would be absurd not to do it.” The Nigerian women train out of Houston, but they visited Nigeria last spring to promote their adopted sport. They received an enthusiastic welcome, even needing a security escort as crowds mobbed their future Olympians. “To bring us in with such open arms and accept what we’re doing as almost heroic,” says Adigun, “it was just beautiful to get that vibe.” Adigun hopes the Nigerian bobsled team will inspire more Africans to try [**winter Olympic sports**](http://time.com/5068205/winter-olympic-sports-pyeongchang-2018/). “There is no reason why people should feel like there’s only one lane they need to stay in,” she says. “Diversity explains to people that there are no limits in this life.” The Nigerian women likely won’t bring a medal home. But the world, knowing that the team’s mere presence at the 2018 Winter Olympics counts as an epic victory, will be watching. “I can’t wait to get to that stage,” says Adigun, “and give people every ounce of our passion.” ## Transcript [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [ MUSIC ] You don't even have to be in Nigeria to be confused as to why three Nigerians, who live in Texas, are competing in the sport of bobsled > We had a barbecue lunch. She told me that she wanted to create a bobsled team. I guess I'm a sporadic thinker or I just make rash decisions, I don't know. But I was like, " Sure ", and then afterwards, I was like I need to call somebody else, I get like a second, third or fourth opinion. Once she explained that this is for a continent I was like yeah, it would be absurd not to do it. And I was like My god I think [ UNKNOWN ] just created a team Our team dynamic is pretty unique Like work definitely, like the fun loving group of women that it's very enjoyable being around us Well at the same time, we definitely know how to get to work. I wouldn't have to think about the idea of doing it all over again with anyone else. The dynamic works. Cool Running! Cool Running's reference is just something we get all the time every single day. I mean if I had a dollar For every time I got that I would not mean to fundraise ever again, but it's honorable it's beautiful, because here we are thirty years later you know from when these men took this little faith and just something so special and here others are going to compare it to something of such high stature like that's just it's an honor it. [ NOISE ] [ MUSIC ] It's difficult being the only person who knows anything about the sport for an entire continent. The learning curve was huge. The first thing I think we learned [ UNKNOWN ] to hit this [ UNKNOWN ] on the may flower which is just this wooden tool that we used to help us [ UNKNOWN ] get the technique [ UNKNOWN ] hitting the slide. We spent a lot of time in the weight room and on the tractors working on speed and strength, getting stronger and getting faster We're used to [ UNKNOWN ] From track and field where we just get on the track and do our thing for 30 seconds max. But what Bob said, you're on the track almost like a whole entire work day. I didn't think that I, thought the sport would be so demanding in terms of physically having to move this sled up, you know all of the things that happen prior to actually getting into the sled and Racing. [ NOISE ] Here we go. You're doing stuff in cold weather, you're freezing, But eventually, it got easier and easier, things just kinda started to add up and click. And that's kind of how it is not when it's just like hey, we've only been doing this for a year and we're getting pretty good at it. [ UNKNOWN ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] I was raised a Nigerian in the United States. Being able to represent Nigeria has just been honorable, to say the least. How many people can say that they're going to the Olympics. One and two, putting a whole continent on their back and making this happen. Historically, you probably haven't seen a team from Africa for a very realistic reasons. No one is gonna associate a Sub- Saharan climate with ice or snow. If they can see now and visualize the fact that there are ways to do these things [ MUSIC ] My hope is that the floodgates will open and people will take to the sport and the sport will continue to grow. Amen. Although this is for Nigeria on the actual ballot, this is everything we represent. We represent a community of women Strong women. We represent United States, we represent Houston, we represent Chicago, Dallas, Minnesota, all the places where we have dedicated our lives to, or have been any way shape of forum, a part of our growth. This is for them, this is for you, this is for everyone. 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