HARRIS COUNTY - HSA INSIDER
A weekly look at all things Houston sports from the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority: Nigerian bobsledders based in Houston make international news
Patti Smith
Feb 23, 2018, 8:53 am
Seun Adigun and Akuoma Omeoga of Nigeria react with Aminat Odunbaku in the finish area during the Women's Bobsled at PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games. Aelxander Hessenstein/Getty Images
The Harris County – Houston Sports Authority Insider will take you inside Houston Sports each Friday because #WeAreHoustonSports!
It was never really about challenging for Olympic gold. Or silver. Or bronze.
It was about getting there. About chasing a dream. About opening a door.
Seun Adigun, Ngozi Onwumere and Akuoma Omeoga went three-for-three in Pyeongchang.
The Houston-based team of former track stars became the first Nigerians to compete in the bobsled competition at the Winter Olympics. That they were 3.50 seconds behind the leaders after two runs and wound up finishing last in the 20-team field – 7.15 seconds behind Germany’s gold medalists Mariama Jamanka and Lisa Buckwitz – isn’t the point.
That they lived their dream and inspired others is.
“It’s quite amazing,’’ Adigun said after the final Olympic run. “I’m overwhelmed with joy and overwhelmed with the idea of knowing that history was made and we gave everything we had to do it.
“. . .This was just one of those days that you can’t really describe. Full of all kinds of emotions – full of relief, full of history.”
Adigun, who pulled the team together, was the most experienced of the group. And she wasn’t even that experienced.
In December, she likened competing at the qualifying level to being a 16-year-old who just got her driver’s license and jumping into a car at Daytona.
“Every time I cross the finish line,’’ Adigun said, “I thank God we survived.’’
The former University of Houston hurdler, who competed in the 2012 Summer Games for Nigeria, trained the for three months and made the 2015 U.S. National bobsled team as a brakeman. She had so much fun that she talked to Onwumere, who ran at UH when Adigun was an assistant coach, and got her on board. Then they added Omeoga and formed the Bobsled and Skeleton Federation of Nigeria. Both Onwumere and Omeoga were Adigun’s brakemen.
That done, Adigun started a crowd-funding site to help raise $75,000 for their journey and built a makeshift wooden bobsled for training. With no snow in Houston, they practiced by using the bobsled on a running track.
The road to the Olympics wasn’t easy.
Once they got proficient, they had to make it through five Olympic-sanctioned qualifers just to get to South Korea. As they made their way through the races, they attracted attention much like the Jamaican bobsled team that competed 30 years ago and inspired the movie, Cool Runnings.
They even caught the eye of Ellen DeGeneres and they flew to California to dance and chat with Ellen on her television show.
Along the way, they landed with Team Visa and got a sponsorship from Under Armour, which featured them in a campaign called Ice Blazers: Expect the Unexpected.
They inspired not just Nigerian athletes, but also athletes everywhere with their 18-month, start-to-finish sprint to the Olympics.
“You can do whatever you want,” Omeoga said. “If you see our faces and we inspire you to do something, then that’s absolutely all we ask for.”
Before they knew it, they were off to Pyeongchang where reporters couldn’t get enough of their story.
“You have these outlandish kind of ideas, and then all of the sudden you see them slowly but surely manifest themselves into reality,” Adigun told USA TODAY. “Every milestone that comes, everyone that gets involved, you start to see it come together.”
Not even a very ragged final run put a damper on things. Afterward, they were talking about the interest they stirred up among Nigerian athletes and Beijing in 2022.
“I don’t think it’s hit us how impactful this whole process is actually going to be in the long run,” Adigun said. “We’re so honored and humbled to be in the position that we are, to be able to show people that impossible is nothing. And that you don’t have to quantify things by just a result, a first place, second place or any time.”
Adigun expressed her joy at simply completing this journey with tears after the final run. And, she hinted that this might well be the start of a new journey for this bobsled team.
“By God’s grace you will see Nigeria in Beijing,” she told Olympic reporters. “We did everything we could. People are super-stoked back in Nigeria. We just pray all of our resilience does foster into some future athletes.”
Most Popular
SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome
Listen Live
With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.