Houston Alums Begin Historic, Fun-Spirited Nigerian Bobsled Team

HOUSTON, TX — The storybook tale of the historic Nigerian women's bobsled team begins somewhere in a basement at the University of Houston. That's where former UH sprinter Seun Adigun built a wooden bobsled to simulate a real sled she rode while once training with Team USA in Lake Placid, New York.

Adigun has always been a dreamer, and she'd already been an Olympian. Adigun always knew she would be the first woman to play in the NBA. Although that dream went awash, she became an incredible sprinter at the University of Houston, where she was an NCAA Championships qualifier in both the hurdles and sprint relays.

Adigun, who has dual American and Nigerian citizenship, made the Nigerian Olympic Team in the hurdles for the 2012 London Games. And although she desired another trip to the Olympics, she retired in 2012. However, in 2015 her competitive athletic juices once again flowed.

USA Bobsledding typically targets collegiate sprinters to train for the push spot on their teams, so Adigun trained with Team USA. Intrigued, she figured she could convince two former sprinters to go in with her — but something in a more historic fashion. Former Cougar sprinter Ngozi Onwumere and Akuoma Omeoga were all on board for a push to start a Nigerian team, and what happened next was magical.

"I built this bobsled out of wood to simulate the bobsled in Lake Placid, where I trained with the U.S. team," Adigun said in an interview with The New York Times. "I named it the "Maeflower," after my late sister — we used to call her Mae-Mae. I persuaded two of the track-and-field athletes I knew in Houston to be on the team and be my brakemen.

"We train in Houston, but we’ve also done some runs at Lake Placid. This past week I had some form of frostbite after 15 minutes outside for one run. My fingers hurt so bad I couldn’t even move them. My whole hand swelled up, and I couldn’t feel my hands. It’s been a week, and I still can’t feel the tips of my fingers. I’m learning new things in this sport all the time, and I have to mentally get over the hump, even if my sense of touch is not optimal."

Making the move from Team USA to the Nigerian squad for Adigun also meant making the move from the brakes in the back to the driver's seat up front.

It also meant smooth-talking skeptical Nigerian sports officials that her idea wasn't just a pipe dream, and that it had legitimacy. It meant finding ice to train on when they weren't training on dry land at the Houston Track Complex, and it meant raising a ton of cash. Having $75,000, they needed to match that, so they launched a GoFundMe Page. They hit their goal of $75,000 by 434 contributors — including $50,000 by one anonymous donor.

The list of things they needed was essential:

- A bobsled for practice and competition
- Sled Runners (blades on the base)
- Tools for the sled- Ice time (for learning how to drive)
- Cost of shipping the sled to different tracks
- Transportation, lodging, travel expenses for myself and my brake(wo)men
- Winter gear (shoes, jackets, spikes, travel bags, etc) for myself and my brake(wo)men
- Team Competition gear (helmets, uniforms, practice gear, etc)
- Athlete insurance for myself and my brake(wo)man
- Misc. (registration and membership fees)

Moving forward, there was qualifying. Adigun always studies the track and its 15-20 turns. Going at speeds up to 90 mph and the force that comes with it, she knew she needed to be sharp. And once they qualified for the Olympics to become the first African nation to ever make it to the Winter Games, they became instant celebrities.

"After we qualified, there was this uproar within Nigeria, the Nigerian diaspora, non-Nigerian people," Adigun said."People were really excited that there was a winter effort and something positive happening for Nigeria."

They began a national sponsorship campaign that included a "Beats By Dre" campaign, an appearance on "Ellen" and a Visa sponsorship.

The Houston-trained trio has become the international darlings of the 2018 PyeongChang Games. They know the medal podium is likely out of the question, but what they're starting could inspire other young African athletes to reach beyond their limits and think outside the box.

"We are this Cinderella story, and we didn’t really mean it to be this," Adigun told The Times. "It comes with a lot more pressure, but I’m not thinking about it that way. I put a plan down, and I am ready to execute that plan."

"At this point now, success is something that runs on a continuum; it’ something that you can achieve daily," Adigun told Yahoo Sports. "But at the end of the day, we’re competitors. We’re going to show the world the best we have, and that’s what brought us here."

The women's training at the Olympic Sliding Centre starts Saturday, and the medal round will be Wednesday, Feb. 21.

Image: In this Dec. 7, 2017 image take from video, Nigerian boblsedders, from left, Ngozi Onwumere, Akuoma Omeoga and Seun Adigun play with fake snow during a media event in New York. The trio will represent Nigeria as the country fields its first-ever bobsled team at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. The team is also a first, men's or women's, for the entire continent of Africa. (AP Photo)