Boltic
By Duro Ikhazuagbe
After all the misadventure of the entire Team Nigeria here at the London 2012, not much was expected from Sinivie Boltic who was the last man standing until the last day of competition Sunday.
The 30-year-old wrestler lost his Men's Freestyle 96 kg bout to Nicolai Ceban of Moldova 3-1 to end a nightmare for Nigerians who have not seen such mass failure of our sportsmen and women since the Olympic Games hosted by Seoul in 1988.
The Moldovan had set the tune of what to expect yesterday when he took the first point of the first period. Boltic managed to level in the second period but Ceban took the contest beyond the Nigerian's reach with a point that counted double to move to the next stage with a 3-1 advantage.
Head Coach of the country's wrestling team, Daniel Igali had earlier told Nigerians not to expect much from the team he brought here for the London 2012.
Igali, who has seen it all in the sport, winning both Olympic and World Championship gold medals for Canada, his adopted country insisted his programme would start to yield divident in 2016.
"We came here to check how our programme was going on. We have not been able to achieve the form that will begin to guarrantee Nigeria medals at the Olympic. As an Olympic gold medalist, I know that you don't expect to win gold without adequate preparation. Adequate preparation is not six months, but a sustained period of training over the years," observed the Bayelsa State lawmaker.
The other three Team Nigeria wrestlers that qualified for the London Games had similarly failed to progress beyond the first round of their various categories.