Nigeria has produced some of the world's greatest athletes who have provided sports fans with many memorable moments. Nigerian athletes have excelled in many sports, including basketball, athletics, and boxing. Read on as we bring you Nigeria’s most renowned athletes.

Segun Toriola

Born in Ilorin in 1974, Segun Toriola is one of Nigeria’s leading athletes having enjoyed a prolonged period at the top of table tennis. Having made his Olympic debut for the Nigerian team at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Toriola went on to represent his country an additional six times at the Olympics, with his final appearance coming at the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro.

Toriola’s best achievement came at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing when he beat former world number 1 Jean-Michel Saive on his way to the round of 16. Some of Toriola’s most significant achievements include 4 African Table Tennis Singles Championships and a Commonwealth Singles Championship.

With table tennis being such a popular sport for betting, a betano promo code in Nigeria would have been handy when backing Toriola in events.

Chioma Ajunwa

When Chioma Ajunwa entered the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, no Nigerian athlete had ever won a gold medal in a field event. At the time of the long jump competition at the games, Ajunwa was working as a police officer in Nigeria but the job did not prevent her from making history.

Not only was Ajunwa’s success a first for Nigeria, but she was also the first black African woman to win an Olympic gold medal in a field event. Ajunwa has since created the Chioma Ajunwa-Okpara Foundation to help up and coming sports stars in Nigeria.

Hogan 'Kid' Bassey

Switching from track and field to the boxing ring and Hogan 'Kid' Bassey made history on the 24th of June 1957 when he won the WBA world featherweight title. Bassey beat French Algerian Cherif Hamia in Paris to lift the belt and in doing so, he became the first man of Nigerian descent to win a boxing world title.

Having moved to the United Kingdom, Bassey became naturalised British and was a awarded an MBE for services to sport in the Eastern Region, Nigeria.

Mary Onyali

When discussing Nigeria’s most renowned athletes, it is impossible to ignore Mary Onyali. The sprint sensation won the bronze medal in the 200m at the 1996 Olympic Games and bronze in the 4x100m relay at the 1992 Olympics. Onyali twice won gold at the Commonwealth Games, including the 1994 100m and has since worked as the Director General of the National Sports Commission in Nigeria.

Hakeem Olajuwon

For our final most renowned athlete from Nigeria we switch to basketball and Hakeem Olajuwon was the first overall pick in the 1984 NBA Draft. The draft also included Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley, which underlines the quality of player Olajuwon was mixing with at the time.

Having been selected by the Houston Rockets, Olajuwon went on to win the NBA championship twice and was named the NBA Most Valuable Player in 1994, becoming the first non-America to win the award.

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