REMEMBERING MARION JONES, HAPPY FOR USAIN BOLT AND FEELING SORRY FOR TEAM NIGERIA

Sometime in the 2000s while listening to the news on CNN, reports about the sentence of Olympic track star Marion Jones to six months in prison, two years of probation and community service for lying to federal prosecutors in 2003 about the use of steroids and substances to enhance performance on the tracks, was breaking the news.  

And trust us as human beings, those same people who praised her for her earlier awesome performances during the games, were the same people who cast her off from being the ‘American hero’ to becoming a ‘national disgrace’ which of course earned her a massive disrespect as she was stripped off of her gold medals thereby losing her source of livelihood as a professional track and field sportswoman which according to her attorneys “was the only career Marion had ever known”.

Today, a few days after the Rio Olympics 2016, Usain Bolt is now regarded as the world’s greatest and everyone is ‘living it up’ posing the arrow style of Usain Bolt in every picture seen on social media and everywhere else. Who says success is not ‘polygamous’ by nature as everyone wants to be associated with it. I am, like many others, very happy and proud of Usain.

But then! Who is standing by Marion Jones today or the other members of ‘Team Nigeria’ who went for the Olympics against all odds but did not win a single medal not to talk about GOLD? Failure is truly an orphan. QED!

Team Nigeria in my candid opinion were not in any way motivated so it even came as a shock when the Nation’s football team earned bronze after winning third place. It was shocking because not even a goal was expected after their grueling ordeal right from the preparations till the games started. Anyone would have been emotionally drained to perform at any level. For me they deserve a very good appraisal and thumbs up.

I guess the bronze is just a subtle compensation for their stress as a team and not for Nigeria as a country nor the nation’s sport’s governing body.

Without pouring undue encomiums, I'd like to say "Well done team Nigeria! You all deserve a standing ovation jare!! Next time, Nigeria will prepare very well if they need you guys to bring back real GOLD!!!