Nigeria will receive the African continent’s quota place in the women’s sprint and keirin events at the Paris Olympics, following the withdrawal of Egypt’s nominated rider.

Shahd Saeed was suspended following an incident at the end of the Egyptian elite women’s championship road race in April, when she was deemed to have forced a rival into a concrete wall.

With Egypt offering no alternate competitor, the UCI has now confirmed that the place goes to Nigeria, as the next highest ranked African nation for sprint.

TrackPiste.com reported that Tombrapa Gladys Grikpa was the only Nigerian sprinter eligible to claim the spot.

But the Olympics website is indicating that the place has instead gone to Ese Lovina Ukpeseraye, the 25 year old rider with Canyon/SRAM Generation.

Ukpeseraye is the current African continental road champion, winning her title in Ghana in 2023. She was part of the Nigerian teams which won the African team sprint and team pursuit titles in 2021. She had already been entered for the women’s road race, taking place a couple of days before the track programme begins.

In tweets yesterday, she said it was a dream come true to be in Paris. “The journey has not been easy. Daily I strive to be the best version of me. So many setbacks and limitations but we push ahead.”