Africa’s most decorated sliding athlete says qualifying for two Winter Olympics reflects exceptional dedication and commitment.

Africa’s most decorated sliding athlete, Simidele Adeagbo, has praised Nigeria’s Samuel Ikpefan for becoming the first Nigerian to compete at two Winter Olympic Games.

Ikpefan represented Nigeria at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, where he competed as the country’s sole athlete and flagbearer. His appearance in Italy followed his Olympic debut at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, confirming him as the first Nigerian athlete to feature at two editions of the Winter Games.

Describing the achievement as historic, Adeagbo applauded Ikpefan’s dedication and resilience, stressing the difficulty of qualifying for consecutive Olympic Games.

“First of all, it is fantastic that he has been able to reach two Olympic Games, which is not easy. I can tell you that from experience,” she said.

“To qualify for two consecutive Games means total commitment and the ability to perform at the highest level twice. That is a huge accomplishment.”

Adeagbo competed in skeleton at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics, becoming the first African athlete to win an international sled race. She later claimed the women’s monobob title at the 2022 EuroCup in Germany, further cementing her legacy.

At Milano Cortina 2026, Ikpefan competed in two events. In the men’s sprint classic qualification, he finished 65th with a time of 3:33.31, earning 166.13 FIS points, but failed to advance as only the top 30 qualified for the quarter-finals.

He also placed 94th in the men’s 10km interval start free, clocking 26:38.4, finishing 6:02.2 behind the leader.