THERE were luminous smiles on their faces on the eve of their departure to London; full of promises. The occasion was the formal handing over ceremony of Team Nigeria contingent to the Nigeria Olympics Committee (NOC) at the Lagos Sheraton Hotel.Then, there was the weeping and distraught faces, as the athletes began to crash out one after another from the Olympic Games just few days after it commenced.For many Nigerians back home, Nigeria's participation in this year's London 2012 Olympics may end up in total failure, except the track and field athletes, who began their contest yesterday are able to turn things around.First, it was the table tennis quartet of Segun Toriola, Aruna Quadri, Funke Oshonaike and Edem Offiong that was sent out of the Games Village after being humiliated in the preliminaries. They were followed by the boxing duo of Muideen Akanji and Lawal Lukman, who were pummelled to submission by their opponents.As the table tennis team and the two boxers were being ejected from the Games Village 48 hours after their elimination in compliance with the Olympic Games rules, Nigeria's first-ever competitor in the canoeing event, Jonathan Akinyemi, crashed out at his first attempt. The failure continued few hours later, when weightlifter, Felix Ekpo, ended his 2012 Olympics dream without a medal, though, he broke the Africa and Commonwealth records in the 77 kg category.More defeats followed, when the men basketball team, D'Tigers, failed to keep up their opening day performance, losing 53-72 to Lithuania in their second Preliminary Round Group A game. More bitter pills were forced down the throat of Team Nigeria on Thursday night by American men basketball team, who dunked out the Nigerians 156-73 in a one-sided game.And like the Biblical question of 'where is the ram,' from Isaac to his father, Abraham, on the day of the big sacrifice, the flop by the country so far in the London Games has prompted some concerned Nigerians back home to throw a poser to the 'wise men' in Team Nigeria: 'Where are the medals''Of the defeats suffered by Team Nigeria so far in the London Games, the poor outing by the table tennis team has become a talking point for some lovers of the game back home.The table tennis team had earlier given Nigerians a flicker of hope, when Quadri booked a second round ticket after winning his opening match. But when it mattered most, Quadri was shown the red card as he succumbed to defeat in the hands of Turkish Vang Bora, thus eclipsing Nigeria's dream in the event.Before then, the much-talked-about six-time Olympian, Toriola, and veteran ping ponger, Oshonaike, had fallen like a pack of cards. While Toriola lost in the first round of the men's singles, Oshonaike was equally shown the exit in the first round.Despite having failed to bring his six-time Olympics experience to bear at the London Games, Toriola has continued to boast, saying that his next target is to be at the 2016 edition of the Olympic Games.To some keen followers of the game in Nigeria, the fact that the likes of Toriola and Oshonaike still dominate the sport is a clear indication that table tennis is 'dead and buried' in the country.Speaking on a radio sports programme during the week, a sports fan who identified himself simply as Sule from Dopemu, said: 'It is a shame that a player like Toriola is counting the number of appearances at the Olympics when his mates in other countries are counting the number of medals won.'My major concern for now is the dwindling fortune of table tennis in the country. From the look of things, we have more lazy coaches in the table tennis federation these days and that could be the reason why the likes of Toriola would rule the sport for so long even when it is quite obvious that he is no longer the same Toriola we used to know. Look at Edem Offiong' This is the same table tennis that produced great stars in the past. The federation has a lot of work to do,' Sule declared.Another caller, Omotayo, from Obalende said: 'We should try and find out from the athletes if they really had good training programmes before the commencement of the Olympic Games. I am saying this because Nigerian officials have this dubious attitude of pocketing what should belong to the athletes or money that are supposed to be used for their training.'Before their departure for the Games, I heard Patrick Ekeji saying that the NSC had given the athletes the best of preparations and Nigeria should expect a better outing in London. I understand the Federal Government released over N2.3 billion for this London Games. We will like to know how the money was used and for which purpose at the end of the games,' Omotayo stated.A total of 302 gold medals are up for grabs at the London Olympics, but as at yesterday, Nigeria's name was nowhere near the medal zone, though, there were repeated assurances from the Sports Minister/Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Bolaji Abdullahi, that the team would still win medals. His optimism was based on track and field athletes, who started their contest yesterday.Painfully, Nigeria's flag bearer in the 100m women hurdles, Uhuoma Osazuwa, could not make it to the next round, after placing seventh in a disappointing time of 13.46 second. Her effort in the high jump was not good either, as she finished in the 20th position yesterday.
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