The team had just pulled off a surprising victory against Australia in the Olympic opener for both teams. It was the first win in the Olympics in 20 years for the African nation.
It happened a few days after the team made the 2 1/2-hour trek from Lille to Paris for the opening ceremony only to be denied access to the country’s boat by its own federation because there wasn’t enough room, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on Friday on condition of anonymity because the Nigeria delegation has not publicly commented.
“It feels so good. It’s been a tough couple of days,” said Amy Okonkwo, who scored 13 points in the win. “We’ve stuck together and this is what it’s about. Like, you overcome adversity and you fight until the finish and you come out with the win.”
The players didn’t want to get into the specifics of what happened Friday night.
“I just want to leave the past in the past. I can’t do anything about it,” Okonkwo said. “But what we can do is focus on what we can do on the court and execute our game plan and continue to just take everything in stride and take it one day at a time.”
