Osheku: How Dr Amos Adamu cleared the path for Falilat Ogunkoya’s historic 400m bronze medal win at Atlanta Olympics

Foremost athletics coach, chief Tony Osheku has paid tribute to Dr Amos Adamu who turned 70 years old recently.

Osheku, unarguably Nigeria’s best coach in the late 1990s and early 2000s says Dr Adamu paved the way for Falilat Ogunkoya’s  medal win at the 1996 Olympics and hopes others can follow in the former director of sports development in the Federal Ministry of Sports’ footsteps.

‘I remember after the National Trials in Lagos which Fali ( Falilat Ogunkoya) won, she traveled out to Europe to run in a number of track meetings.

‘In her first post Nigerian championships race, she ran her first ever sub-50 seconds over the 400m (49.89) in Paris (Meeting Gaz de France) six days after her triumph in Lagos and improved to 49.60 less than a week later at the Athletissima in Lausanne, Switzerland.

She was indeed flying.

‘She was due to compete next in Nice, France, the third time in two weeks and this must have alarmed Dr Adamu,’ recounts Osheku who was coach of Ogunkoya at the time.

There were a lot of talk about athletes burning out in the media at the time and Osheku said he was surprised Dr Adamu did not dismiss the arguments around it.

‘A day before the meet, July 9, 1996, I received a call from Dr Adamu requesting to see me.

‘I remember going to his office at Tafawa Balewa Square, TBS in Lagos where they used to have the Ministry of Sports office at the time.

‘Dr Adamu asked for the financial details of Fali’s participation in her remaining (three) races and I told him.

He said coach, ‘you have to travel to Europe tonight and tell Fali not to compete again and that the Federal Government would pay her for pulling out of the meetings’.

‘I was shocked that a Nigerian government official could think progressively the way Dr Adamu did.’

“Anyway, I accepted to travel that night and met Fali the following before the Nice Nikaia meet in Nice. I told her the discussion I had with Dr Adamu and that she has to pull out of the remaining races after competing in Nice.

The race was held on July 10, 1996.

‘Fali didn’t argue with me and agreed to do just what Dr Adamu wanted albeit she would still lose a few thousands of dollars because of the amount Government agreed to pay.

‘She won the race in Nice with 50.00. Fatimat Yusuf who was also at the meet in Paris and the Athletissima in Lausanne also ran in Nice with Mary Onyali who ran 11.18 to win the 100m event.’

‘We left from Nice straight to our training camp in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA for altitude training instead of heading to London (July 12) for her next meet with the Olympics just some two weeks plus away.’

‘The rest, they say is history. An unprecedented history.

‘Fali did not just become the first Nigerian to win an individual medal in track and field at the Olympics, a feat that spurred her friend Onyali to put in an extra effort to win the 200m bronze and Chioma Ajunwa the historic gold but she also is the first and only athlete to win two medals at the same edition of the quadrennial Games.’

Looking back now, Osheku believes it was the best decision he and Falilat Ogunkoya took to listen to Dr Adamu.

”Listening to Dr. Adamu was a good strategy that really helped her from being fresh at the Olympics proper.’

‘I am delighted for Dr Adamu and wish him a very happy birthday albeit belatedly.’