Pulse List 2017: Best 5 Nigerian sportswomen of the year

We take a look at five Nigerian sportswomen that excelled in 2017.

This Pulse List 2017 highlights the best 5 Nigerian sportswomen of the year.

For a large section of sports fans, men are undoubtedly the centre of attraction which means sportswomen are celebrated with less fanfare.

However, sports women are having just as much fun in their careers as their male counterparts.

Here is a list of five Nigerian sportswomen who had a great time in 2017 and deserve to be celebrated:

1.  Asisat Oshoala (Football)

 

Saying Super Falcons star Asisat Oshoala is the face of Nigeria’s women’s sports now sounds like a broken record.

Oshoala had another massive year, securing a move to the China where she signed with Dalian Quanjian.

With Dalian Quanjian, the 23-year-old had a successful debut year, scoring 12 goals in the Chinese Women’s Super League. She was voted the best striker in the league.

She also helped Dalian Quanjian to the Chinese Women Super Cup title, scoring a brace in a 5-3 win in the final over Shangai.

She wrapped up 2017 with a nomination for the 2017 African Women’s Player of the Year award. She is the current holder of the award which she has won twice.

2. Adekuoroye Odunayo (Wrestling)

 

In wrestling, Adekuoroye Odunayo continued to make steady rise following her huge silver medal win at the World Championship in Paris.

By just qualifying for the final of the 55kg women category, she became the first Nigerian to compete in the final of the World Championship.

Although she lost in the final, it was still a huge feat for the 23-year-old who became the first Nigerian to win a silver medal at the World Championship.

In the year under review, Odunayo also made it to number one in the 55kg category.

The Ondo State-born fighter has been on a rise; in 2015 she won bronze at the 2015 World Championship in Las Vegas.

3. Nigerian Bobsled Women Team (Bobsled)

 

It was such a rewarding year for the Nigerian Bobsled Team who achieved huge feat by becoming the first Nigerian team to qualify for the Winter Olympics.

The trio of Seun Adigun, Ngozi Onwumere and Akuoma Omeoga with sheer passion and determination started a go-fund-me account to fund their dream of being the first Nigerians at the Winter Olympics.

A year later, their dreams became were fulfilled as they qualified for the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang after completing completed races in Utah, Whistler and Calgary during the qualifiers.

Their appearance together on prime US Talk Show, The Ellen Show was also a high point of their 2017.

4. Rasheedat Ajibade (Football)

 

Rasheedat Ajibade is undoubtedly the 2017 break-out star of Nigerian women’s football.

Ajibade was fantastic in the 2017 Nigeria Women's Premier League, (NWPL) netting eight goals for FC Robo Queens.

Although FC Robo Queens could not make it to the Super Four (the NWPL finals play-off), Ajibade was the standout star of the NWPL and was voted the Best Player in the league in the 2016/2017 season.

She got a call-up to the Falconets where she has captained a host of games during the ongoing FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup qualifiers.

5. Evelyn Akhator (Basketball)

 

The D’Tigress team that triumphed at the 2017 Women’s AfroBasket tournament in August had a host of exciting players and leading the pack was Evelyn Akhator.

In Nigeria’s 65-48 win over Senegal in the final to lift the title, Akhator scored 13 points, a team-high and had seven rebounds for Nigeria.

That was the kind of form that helped Nigeria’s Women Basketball Team win their third AfroBasket title and earn Akhator a place in the Pulse List 2017 article.