Tokyo 2020: Oshonaike proud despite early exit

By Akeem Lawal 

NIGERIA Table Tennis legend Funke Oshonaike is delighted to have made her seventh appearance at the Olympics Games despite crashing out of the Tokyo 2020 sooner than expected.

Sportsbiz247.blogspot.com reports that Oshonaike lost 4-1 (7-11.3-11.4-11.13-11,4-11) to Juan Liu of the United States in the preliminary stage of the Women’s singles at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on Saturday.

Nevertheless, the 45-year-old was in a good mood after the match, because her seventh participation in the Olympic Games weighs more heavily than the defeat to the American.

She also revealed that Tokyo 2020 will be her last Olympic event.

“God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh,” Oshonaike drew an interesting comparison after leaving the first round of the individual Olympic competition. 

“I will rest after the seventh Games. I’m going to be there (Paris 2024 Olympics), but as a spectator,” she told the Olympics Channel.

“I played well, had a few problems with my left leg, but it was just better. But even if that makes me a bit sad, of course, I am especially very happy to be back at the Olympic Games. That makes me proud.

“This is the spirit of the Games, you lose or win but we are all Olympians,” Oshonaike said.

Oshonaike made history by becoming the first African woman to qualify for seven Olympic Games and also the first woman in Table Tennis to achieve the phenomenal feat after making her debut at the 1996 Atlanta Games.