Table tennis icon Olufunke Oshonaike is over the moon following Olajide Omotayo’s qualification for the men’s event of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris via the qualifying tournament in Kigali, Rwanda.
Omotayo, the 2019 African Games champion, thus qualified for his second successive Olympic appearance following his debut in Tokyo 2020.
Oshonaike, who holds the record for being the only female to have participated in seven Olympic Games, shared her excitement in a statement titled, “Paris 2024, here we come” on her Facebook wall on Friday, alongside a video of Omotayo taking his much older opponent to the cleaners and celebrating the feat.
“I know he wanted it so badly; he has been very hungry for it! We were so close together in the mixed doubles last year after getting the ticket, but I guess it was not meant to be.
He really gave me lots of encouragement, and I love him more for that. Please, friends and family, join me in congratulating and thanking God for my son, Olajide Omotayo, for qualifying for the Paris 2024 Olympics. I am overwhelmed with joy. Congratulations to Edem Offiong too for qualifying for Paris 2024,” Oshonaike wrote.
Omotayo is currently ranked 144 in the International Table Tennis Federation’s Men’s Singles World Ranking.
Olaitan Ibrahim