Paris 2024 Olympics: Finally a victory for Nigerian basketball players

Nigerian coaches and players soaked in the moment, to the cheers of the crowd, as they stood on centre court.

The team had just won a surprise victory over Australia . It was the Lady Tigers ' first Olympic victory in 20 years.

It came days after the team made the 2.5-hour journey from Lille to Paris for the opening ceremony, but were denied access to the country's boat by their own federation because there was not enough space.

"I feel so good. It's been a tough couple of days ," said Amy Okonkwo, who scored 13 points in the win. "We pulled together and that's what it's all about. You overcome adversity, you fight until the end and you come out on top."

The players did not want to go into details about 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 field, execute our game plan and continue to take it all in stride, one day at a time."

Nigeria has had a tough few years since the team reached the quarter-finals of the 2018 World Cup . The country failed to secure a victory at the 2021 Tokyo Games, and then internal conflicts between the basketball federation and the government prevented the team from participating in the 2022 World Cup.

"Sometimes you have a fight with your brother, your sister, and the next day you make up and you're friends again ," said Ezinne Kalu, who scored 19 points against Australia. "That's all we've done in the last few years. We've fought and we've tried to stay together as a team. And today we proved that we can continue to be great . "

Ezinne Kalu adds that the team has been through a lot off the field but people have not paid attention. “No one cares about what we are going through off the field. They just see what we do on the field.”

It is the country's first Olympic victory since 2004, when Nigeria beat South Korea 68-64 in the 11th-place game. It is the only other victory by an African team in women's basketball at the Olympics. The continent is now 2-36.

"We can do anything we want ," says Nigeria coach Rena Wakama. "I don't think anyone believed we could do it, except for the 20 people in my dressing room."

Assistant coach Aisha Mohammed was part of both victories, having been part of the 2004 team. She saw many similarities between the two victories.

"This match is a little bit like this one ," she said. "The fight from start to finish, we didn't give up. We kept fighting and fighting."

The difference is that the victory against South Korea was at the end of the Olympics, and this one is just the beginning. The Nigerians are aiming to reach the quarter-finals, something no African country has ever done.