Olympics: Nigerian finalist downplays kit drama

Nigerian shot put finalist Chukwuebuka Enekwechi insists there is no need to worry about "unnecessary distractions" after his "one kit" jibe at officials of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) caused an online storm.

Hours after making the final of the Olympic shot put, the reigning African champion took to social media to share a video of himself washing his kit.

"When you made the Olympic Finals but you only have one jersey," he wrote on the Tik-Tok video, which has gone viral.

The post by the US-born Enekwechi that he was only given one kit for his event has led to an online discussion about poor treatment of the country’s athletes in Japan.

This latest incident comes a week after the AFN accepted responsibility for its role in 10 Nigerian athletes being declared ineligible for the games. 

The athletes were unable to take part because of non-compliance with out-of-competition drug testing requirements in the run-up to the Olympics.

Both the AFN and sports ministry officials have also been forced to downplay reports of growing discontent among the athletes over complimentary phones, non-payment of training grants and massive reduction of camp allowance.

But Enekwechi, a two-time African champion, made light of the incident few hours later and wanted to quickly shift focus to Thursday’s shot put final.

"Nigerians I am fine. I am glad I made the finals and happy to represent Nigeria. Don't worry about unnecessary distractions," he wrote on Instagram.

This article originally appeared on BBC News

Photo: Chukwuebuka Enekwechi