African Bobsled Team

African Bobsled Team Makes History in 2 Ways

They'll be Nigeria's first Winter Olympics entrants

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

The Nigerian women's bobsled team.   (Instagram)

(NEWSER) – An amazing achievement by the Nigerian women's bobsled team had more than one person speculating about Cool Runnings 2 this week. The team—driver Seun Adigun and brakemen Ngozi Onwumere and Akuoma Omeoga—qualified for the 2018 Winter Olympics after completing their final qualifying races in Calgary, ESPN reports. They are now the first Nigerian team to qualify for the Winter Olympics, and the first African bobsled team, women or men, to qualify. "This is a huge milestone for sports in Nigeria," Adigun says. "Our objective now is to be the best representation of Africa that the Winter Olympics have ever witnessed."

Adigun, who represented Nigeria in the 100 meters in the 2012 London Olympics, started training for the bobsled in 2014, the CBC reports. She told interviewers this week that many people are surprised to find out the team does most of its training in warm weather. The 2018 Games will take place in Pyeongchang, South Korea, from Feb. 9 to Feb. 25. Previous Winter Olympics bobsled teams from tropical countries include the 1988 Jamaican team, subject of 1993's Cool Runnings. ESPN notes that Nigeria could end up having two teams in the Winter Olympics if Simidele Adeagbo manages to qualify for the women's skeleton event.