Nigeria’s Simidele Adeagbo who is
the first Nigerian, African and black female to compete in the head-first sliding
sport of skeleton at the Winter Olympics, produced the slowest times in all of
the six runs held between Monday and Wednesday at the Olympic Sliding Centre in
PyeongChang.
Though a podium finish in the women’s skeleton event
may look unlikely now for Sithe 36-year-old, who will only relish her
experiences in the last three days and better her final time return when the
race gets underway today in the Asian nation.
“Each day has brought a different
experience and that’s the whole experience and journey I’ve been having on this
sport. Every time I step on the track I learn something new, so these last
three days haven’t been different. Now for me it’s about going into race day
and being able to pull from those different experiences and put together the
best race that I can.”
“One of the basic things that you
have to do when you are on the sled is relax and it’s so counterintuitive
because you are going so fast – 80 miles an hour. Your face is just inches from
the track and sometimes you tense up – that’s the opposite of what you want to
do. Today, I felt that I was a bit tensed and I need to go back to the basics,”
she explained.
On Monday, Adeagbo clocked 55.17
and 56.07 seconds in Heat 1 and 2 respectively. Both times landed her in 19th
position out of the same number of competitors as South Korea’s Sophia Jeong
did not start (DNS). The next day saw her finishing 20th with 55.56 and 56.60
seconds in Heat 3 and 4 respectively. She then maintained the same bottom
position on Wednesday, clocking 55.85 and 56.05 seconds in Heat 5 and 6.
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