Nigeria-born Mariam Eniola Bolaji and her Spanish coach were celebrating the athlete’s bronze medal success in the para badminton on Tuesday – a first for an African player.
“You know, I’m so proud,” coach Dina Abouzeid beamed. “I’m so proud of the day I said to Mariam: ‘Let’s go for it.'”
In the relief and glow of Bolaji’s bronze, her coach was finally able to take stock of an 11-month tour de force in which she has taken a promising Nigerian teenager from the hurly burly of regional scuffles via a club in northern Spain to the podium at the Paris Paralympics.
Abouzeid can also boast the honour of guiding Africa’s first player to brandish a medal from a badminton tournament at either the Olympic or Paralympic Games.
Admittedly, badminton doesn’t have an epic heritage at the Games. It was introduced into the Olympics in Barcelona in 1992 and the Paralympics in Tokyo three years ago.
And it was in the prelude to that meeting in Japan that Bolaji suffered yet another bludgeon to her young life.
Nigeria wins Africa’s first Paralympic medal in badminton
Marked by loss
Bolaji was inspired to pursue para badminton under the aegis of Bello Rafiu Oyebanji, her Nigerian coach who died in a traffic accident in the April before the Tokyo Games.
The setback came on top of to the loss of both of her parents in a car crash when she was nine and the fall as a six-year-old that was not treated properly and ultimately reduced the mobility in her left leg.
“I think she has struggled so much in life that now, it seems like it is coming good. I think it’s fair enough,” said Abouzeid.
Modesty would forbid the 44-year-old former international badminton player to include her pastoral and professional input into the upward swing.
Reality, though, sings a different hymn.
Last October, Abouzeid was in the Ugandan capital Kampala in her guise as a tutor for the Badminton World Federation (BWF), the sport’s governing body.
“There were coaching classification courses and lots of African coaches from the federation,” Abouzeid recalls.
There were also 15 players from all over Africa for a training camp.
“I was with Mariam on court during the coaching course and I just saw in her a potential. I just told her: ‘Do you know that you’re good?’ And she said: ‘Why don’t you take me to Spain?'”
Medal potential
Abouzeid said Bolaji’s brazenness unsettled her.
“I went to my hotel room but that night I didn’t sleep. I asked myself: how much money would it take to bring her to Spain? How could we do it? I searched for rooms in Spain.
“The next day I talked to the boss at Badminton Africa.”
In that conversation with Jeff Shigoli, Abouzeid outlined the stakes. She told him that the federation possessed a player that could win a medal at the Paris Paralympics.
“I said I did not know the colour of the medal but that she would be there in the mix. And he was like: ‘Oh, I know she’s good, but is she that good?'”
Abouzeid returned to Spain leaving behind instructions for Bolaji to be sent to her at the Just Badminton club in Vitoria, near Bilbao in northern Spain.
Mission
Abouzeid’s mission was to prepare Bolaji for a tournament in Dubai in January 2024 and the world championships in February in Thailand.
Bolaji took the title in Dubai and reached the quarters at the world championships.
She also claimed back-to-back crowns in Spain before the intensive training for the Paralympics.
With the Paralympic bronze secured, there is likely to be easier access to sponsorship funding and marketing opportunities.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen now,” Abouzeid conceded. “I would love to keep on supporting her but she’s from Nigeria and she lives there.
“I could afford three or four months to keep her at Vitoria. But for me it’s a lot of responsibility.
“I’m coaching her because I love the sport and it’s a feeling.
“I know that it’s for her and it’s for a good thing. I told her when she arrived the first time in Vitoria that I’m not rich, but I can share.”
Catalyst for Africa
Bolaji’s surge to bronze as well as her youth are likely to be deployed by the BWF as part of its development drive for the sport in Africa.
“Mariam’s success is huge,” said John Shearer, the BWF’s head of continental development.
“I’m 100 percent sure this will be a catalyst to more athletes joining para badminton on the African continent.
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“We’re already doing a lot of development there to try and provide opportunities for people with disability to access quality badminton experiences.”
Bolaji has promised to stay in the sport and go for gold in 2028 in Los Angeles, where Abouzeid believes she will be even more formidable.
“Mariam is a fighter. And she will learn with more experience how to deal with her stress,” she added.
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Part of the family
Bolaji will wend her Paralympic path to the States with the good wishes of Just Badminton.
“In Spain she is a heroine,” said Abouzeid. “Every day since we’ve been here in Paris all my team from the club are on the phone wanting to know how she is doing.
“She’s one of the family.”
And finally the secret comes out with a winning smile.
“Mariam’s Spanish,” Abouzeid insists. “She’s playing for Nigeria but she’s Spanish. The bronze medal went to Spain.”
Pure pride.
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Publish date : 2024-09-02 19:34:48
