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Bobsled · History

History of Bobsled in Nigeria

How three sprinters with no snow at home became Africa’s first Olympic bobsleigh team, told in our own words, with a verified timeline.

Nigeria’s bobsled team posing beside their sled

The story

Three women, one dream

Three Nigerian women can be attributed as the founders of bobsledding game in Nigeria, and with their ceaseless efforts have put Nigeria in the bobsledding history which people use as references across the country and beyond. They are the very first bobsled team from Africa to represent their country in the sports of bobsled at the Winter Olympics.

Seun Adigun, one of the three as the mentor for the team was participating in the United States as a brakeman in the women’s bobsledding team when she discovered that she has grown to a high level that could win much more for the country. She had to return and seek for teammates who are the other two great aspiring women athletes Ngozi and Akuoma so as to enable her to accomplish her mission towards success.

In February 2018, the three women represented Nigeria at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang County, Gangwon Province of South Korea. From the recorded history, the three great women returned to the country with an imaginary prize of wooden spoon award as they made the 19th position. They tagged their participation as full of history as they were so proud of their first Olympic performance in the crackpot winter pursuit.

Their efforts and records of success have inspired so many people including Simidele Adeife Omonla Adeagbo, a Nigerian skeleton racer who competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics. The levels which they are operating today have made people compare them to the Jamaican team of the movie, Cool Runnings.

Nigeria is at the top level today in the Winter Olympics as one of the leading country in Africa in the bobsledding Olympic game because of these three bobsledders, as the team participated in the Olympic Winter Games in 2018, although no Nigerian bobsledder or skeleton athlete competed at Beijing 2022 or Milano Cortina 2026.

The team promises not to give up on their dreams and aspirations and are training aspirants to become the first-ever African representatives including men or women, to qualify for the Olympic Winter Games in the sport of bobsleigh.

Nigeria’s bobsleigh team in traditional green and white attire
Team Nigeria in traditional dress at PyeongChang

Verified timeline · checked 29 September 2026

Nigerian bobsled timeline

  1. Late 1800sBobsleigh is born in Switzerland.
  2. 2014Seun Adigun watches the Sochi Winter Olympics and is inspired to try bobsleigh.
  3. 2016Adigun recruits Ngozi Onwumere and Akuoma Omeoga; the Bobsled and Skeleton Federation of Nigeria is founded on 28 December.
  4. 2017The team qualifies for the Winter Olympics; Simidele Adeagbo takes up skeleton.
  5. 2018PyeongChang: Adeagbo competes in skeleton (20th) and the women’s bobsleigh team finishes 19th, Africa’s first Olympic bobsleigh team.
  6. 2022Adeagbo wins a EuroCup monobob race in Winterberg, the first international sled race win by an African; Samuel Ikpefan skis for Nigeria in Beijing.
  7. 202340 athletes take part in the 5th National Push Championships in Lagos.
  8. 2024Adeagbo becomes the first African bobsleigh athlete at an IBSF World Championships.
  9. 2026Adeagbo misses Milano Cortina by one place; Ikpefan represents Nigeria at a third straight Winter Games.

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Quick answers

History of Nigerian bobsled: quick answers

Who started bobsleigh in Nigeria?

Seun Adigun, a Nigerian-American former Olympic hurdler, founded the team in 2016 after watching the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. She recruited fellow sprinters Ngozi Onwumere and Akuoma Omeoga.

What was the name of Nigeria’s first bobsled?

Maeflower, a wooden practice sled Seun Adigun built herself in Houston while the team was training for the Olympics.

Is Nigeria’s bobsled team like Cool Runnings?

The team was often compared with Jamaica’s 1988 bobsled team, whose story inspired the film Cool Runnings. Nigeria’s team made history in 2018 as the first African bobsleigh team at the Olympics.