Nigeria’s 12-year wait for gold

Nigeria’s 12-year wait for gold

From Sporting Witness by BBC World Service

May 9, 2026 · 11 min

About this episode

The episode discusses Nigeria's journey to being declared Olympic champions in the 4x400m relay after a doping scandal involving the USA team.

At the Sydney Olympics in 2000 the Nigerian 4x400m relay team surpassed expectations by winning silver in dramatic fashion. But, in the years that followed revelations about doping in the winning USA team began to emerge. Twelve years after the original race, Nigeria were officially declared the Olympic champions. Enefiok Udo-Obong ran the final leg of the relay in 2000 for Nigeria, he has been speaking to Tim O’Callaghan. Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive and testimony. Sporting Witness is for those fascinated by sporting history. We take you to the events that have shaped the sports world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes, you become a fan in the stands as we take you back in time to examine memorable victories and agonising defeats from all over the world. You’ll hear from people who have achieved sporting immortality, or those who were there as incredible sporting moments unfolded. Recent episodes explore the forgotten football Women’s World Cup, the plasterer who fought a boxing legend, international football’s biggest ever beating and the man who swam the Amazon river. We look at the lives of some of the most famous F1 drivers…

People in this episode

Host: Tim O’Callaghan

Guest: Enefiok Udo-Obong

Topics covered

  • Olympics
  • doping
  • relay race
  • sports history
  • Nigeria
  • athletics

Keywords

  • Nigeria
  • Olympics
  • 4x400m relay
  • Enefiok Udo-Obong
  • doping scandal
  • Sydney 2000
  • sports history

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: BBC World Service

Places: Nigeria, USA

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