--- description: The members of the Nigerian bobsled team made their 2018 Winter Olympics debut at the Opening Ceremony Friday, and people were so excited. title: Nigeria’s First Bobsled Team Arrived to Spread Excitement Across the Internet image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte2b0f3f6cca46fd0/698927017cdbacc00ed5be8e/nigerian-bobsled-team-opening-ceremony.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Sports](/section/sports/) ## Sports Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [2018 Pyeongchang Olympics](/tag/2018-pyeongchang-olympics/) ## 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Nigeria’s First-Ever Bobsled Team Has Arrived at the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony and People Are Really Excited by [Jennifer Calfas](/author/jennifer-calfas/) ## Jennifer Calfas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 10, 2018 2:48 AM CUT  Flag bearer Ngozi Onwumere of Nigeria and teammates enter the stadium during the Opening Ceremony of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at PyeongChang Olympic Stadium on February 9, 2018 in Pyeongchang-gun, South Korea. Flag bearer Ngozi Onwumere of Nigeria and teammates enter the stadium during the Opening Ceremony of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at PyeongChang Olympic Stadium on February 9, 2018 in Pyeongchang-gun, South Korea.Matthias Hangst—Getty Images by [Jennifer Calfas](/author/jennifer-calfas/) ## Jennifer Calfas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 10, 2018 2:48 AM CUT The Winter Olympic dreams for [Nigeria’s first-ever bobsled team](http://time.com/5104583/watch-the-nigerian-bobsled-teams-olympic-journey/ "undefined") became a reality on Feb. 9 when the team stepped into the arena [during the 2018 Opening Ceremony](http://time.com/5141157/pyeongchang-winter-olympics-opening-ceremony-tv/ "undefined") in PyeongChang, South Korea. The bobsled team — composed of athletes Seun Adigun, Akuoma Omeoga and Ngozi Onwumere — and Nigeria’s history-making skeleton athlete Simidele Adeagbo are the first to compete for the country at the Winter Olympics, and viewers watching [NBC’s primetime broadcast of the Opening Ceremony](http://time.com/money/5136248/pyeongchang-opening-ceremony-2018-watch-online-free/ "undefined") Friday night could barely contain their excitement. > [](https://twitter.com/Kierstan77/status/962141758556659712) > [](https://twitter.com/FemiOke/status/962142718360252421) > [](https://twitter.com/Phridee/status/962141739275444226) > [](https://twitter.com/TheJRLuna/status/962141743423606784) Onwumere carried Nigeria’s flag at the Opening Ceremony, where the 92 competing countries participated in the parade of nations following a performance honoring South Korea’s history and culture. This year, more athletes than ever before are competing at the Winter Olympics, representing more countries than have ever competed in the Winter Games. The Nigerian bobsled team and Adeagbo are just four athletes [making history](http://time.com/5106521/2018-winter-olympic-athletes-breaking-barriers/ "undefined") this year at the Winter Olympics. But the spirit exuded by the bobsled team clearly struck a chord with viewers. > [](https://twitter.com/AlphaFemale24/status/962141760129503232) > [](https://twitter.com/katrinaline/status/962150035218714624) > [](https://twitter.com/sophido/status/962148844913025026) > [](https://twitter.com/Dai%5FKitty/status/962146646460129281) > [](https://twitter.com/omo%5Fogbomo/status/962144936924778496) Some fans also voiced their interest in a remake of _Cool Runnings_, the 1993 film that portrayed the Jamaican bobsled team’s historic qualification for the 1988 Winter Olympics. > [](https://twitter.com/chasspod/status/962141758963572736) > [](https://twitter.com/RissKiss%5F13/status/962141754064588801) The members of the Nigerian bobsled team and Adeagbo had arduous journeys to the Winter Olympics. The bobsled team formed a GoFundMe in 2016 to aid their journey, and Adeagbo tried skeleton for the first time after failing to qualify twice at the U.S. Olympic Trials in the triple jump in 2004 and 2008. Adigun, the bobsled team member who initially formed the GoFundMe, created a wooden sled to train, and she and her teammates paused their careers to pursue their Olympics dreams. “I can’t wait to get on that stage and give people every ounce of our passion,” Adigun[ told TIME](http://time.com/5104583/watch-the-nigerian-bobsled-teams-olympic-journey/ "undefined") of competing at the Olympics. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5142773/nigerian-bobsled-team-opening-ceremony-winter-olympics-2018/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5142773/nigerian-bobsled-team-opening-ceremony-winter-olympics-2018/"},"headline":"Nigeria’s First-Ever Bobsled Team Has Arrived at the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony and People Are Really Excited","datePublished":"2018-02-10T02:48:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T19:13:47.114Z","description":"Fans cheered Nigeria's first Winter Olympic team","url":"https://time.com/5142773/nigerian-bobsled-team-opening-ceremony-winter-olympics-2018/","keywords":["2018 Pyeongchang Olympics","Winter Olympics","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte2b0f3f6cca46fd0/698927017cdbacc00ed5be8e/nigerian-bobsled-team-opening-ceremony.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jennifer Calfas","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jennifer-calfas/"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte2b0f3f6cca46fd0/698927017cdbacc00ed5be8e/nigerian-bobsled-team-opening-ceremony.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2018 Winter Olympic Games - Opening Ceremony","caption":"2018 Winter Olympic Games - Opening Ceremony","creditText":"Matthias Hangst—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2018-pyeongchang-olympics/","name":"2018 Pyeongchang Olympics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5142773/nigerian-bobsled-team-opening-ceremony-winter-olympics-2018/","name":"Nigeria’s First-Ever Bobsled Team Has Arrived at the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony and People Are Really Excited"}}]}] ```