Samuel Ikpefan finishes 73rd out of 88 participants in Men's Sprint Free Cross-country Skiing event

Nigeria's journey at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing China has come to an end.

Samuel Ikpefan Nigeria's sole participant at the games has been eliminated from competing for a medal.

Ikpefan finished with a time of 3:09.57 in the Cross-country Skiing event on Tuesday, February 8, 2022.

The time and result for Ikpefan signify that he was ranked 73rd out of 88 participants in the Men's Sprint Free category.

It was a history-making Olympics for Ikpefan as he put Nigeria on the map with his heroics.

It was the first time Nigeria will be participating in the men's Cross-country Skiing.

Ikpefan previously stated that he hopes to inspire more Nigerians to take part in the competition.

He said, “Teaching my sport to the younger generation is my greatest source of pride."

However, his elimination means that Nigeria will not be able to compete for a medal at the games.

This is the second consecutive winter Olympics Nigeria will attend.

Team Nigeria led by Seun Adigun, Ngozi Onwumere, Akuoma Omeoga, and Simidele Adeagbo participated at the 2018 winter Olympic games in Pyeongchang, Gangwon, South Korea.

Following the exploits of the pioneers, Team Nigeria will hope to be in contention at the next winter Olympics in 2026 scheduled for Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.