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On Friday (9th February) at 12 noon (Nigeria time) up to 1bn people around the world are expected to watch the Opening Ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. A record number of African athletes will compete, and for the first time ever, a pan African broadcaster will beam the ceremony and the events that follow for the next 16 days, for FREE on one TV network!
Our Opening Ceremony coverage starts tomorrow at 11:50 am Nigeria time... Yes, Kwesé Sports will broadcast one of the biggest sporting spectacles in the world which until now was only available to the few richest people on the Continent.
The good news does not stop there: Eight African countries will send 13 athletes to compete! While that may not sound like very many, it's more than ever before! Look out for our Olympic athletes from Eritrea, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, and Togo.
So far probably the story that has caught everyone’s imagination the most is the participation of a team of three women from Nigeria (former track and field stars) who have already made history by qualifying to compete for their country in a sport called Bobsleigh (aka Bobsled). They and another female athlete in a sport called Skeleton comprise Nigeria's first-ever Winter Olympic team, where it's (almost) never snowed!
About three years ago, Nigeria's Bobsleigh team were great athletes but had actually never been in a Bobsleigh before, nor had they spent almost any time in snow... Nor did they own a Bobsleigh or any other equipment!
Friends and family helped at first, then they crowdsourced funds online, and finally found a few global brands to support them! Wow! Remember what I've written before about the importance of identifying good partners? Well done!
If you don't know, Bobsleigh is like motor racing on ice, at speeds that can get up to 200 km per hour... but in a small sleek metal sled, all powered by gravity (and the strength and agility of the driver and her team)!
#"AfricanLionessRoar"!
These are about the fastest Africans ever, and they are women! Being a father of five daughters, I just swell with pride, guys! Now I know our daughters can do anything they want to do!
Nigeria and the rest of Africa are going to be following the progress of these and other world beating #LionessRoar women in the next few weeks!
__I urge every African father to sit with his daughters and watch these young women race against the world.
Tell your daughters: “Yes, you can do anything you want!”
And as for the #LionessMoms to each of these Africans from Nigeria... thank you!
Let's all tune in and support them and all our African athletes (I'll share some other amazing stories in the days ahead).
It's free on Kwesé Free Sports (KFS) but if you want to see all the 300 Olympic events, then get a Kwesé decoder and go to Kwesé Channel 285 (you can watch even if you don't have an active subscription!) There's also pop up Channel 306 which provides our 24-hour Olympic coverage. Check for more details on Kwese.espn.com.
__Nothing excites me more than seeing Africans breaking barriers!
Watching people try out new things, particularly things we were not previously exposed to, is just so amazing for me. I find that being an entrepreneur begins with having an entrepreneurial mindset.
This means you are not afraid to try something new, or afraid of being embarrassed or ridiculed. Our Nigerian bobsleigh team appeared on some talk shows recently, including the Ellen DeGeneres Show, and have admitted to the world that it can be "terrifying" to race in that bobsleigh...
But they didn't let fear get in their way! And look where they are today. You, too, can make history if you set your mind to it.
Let the games begin!
End.
Image credit: Nigeria's first-ever Winter Olympic Team: Seun Adigun, Simi Adeagbo (Skeleton), Akuoma Omeoga and Ngozi Onwumere at our Kwesé TV offices in Lagos. (Nike just made a new short film called "Forever First" about Simi Adeagbo, the first ever female African athlete to compete in Skeleton).