Meet Segun Toriola – The Only African To Participate In 7 Olympic Games

It’s one thing to be a good athlete, and it’s another thing to make a successful lifelong career out of that. Nigerian table tennis player, Segun Toriola, has succeeded in both. He is the only African to have participated in seven Olympic Games.

Born in 1974, Toriola started playing table tennis in his father’s house. He was trained mostly by his brothers, some of whom played for Nigeria at some point.

He was discovered through local competitions in Abeokuta. From there, he started participating in tournaments across the country. His first Olympics appearance was in Barcelona in 1992. It was after this competition that the then 19-year-old decided to go professional. So, he went to Italy to hone his craft.

Since after going professional, Toriola has featured in Atlanta ‘96, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012, and Rio 2016. He has also flown the Nigerian flag in All-Africa Games and Commonwealth Games.

Although he has never won an Olympic medal, Toriola has done pretty well in table tennis: He was number one in Africa from 1998 to 2008; he reached the Men’s Singles final at Beijing 2008, beating former world number one, Jean-Michel Saive; he has also won medals in All-Africa Games and Commonwealth Games.

Reacting to his record as the only African athlete with the most appearances at the Olympics, Toriola said to This Day:

“I feel so happy to be the first African to achieve such a feat, and it was something I never dreamed of. It was really unexpected. When I participated in my first Olympics in Barcelona in 1992, I did not expect that I would still be playing up till now, because it was a very long way.”

At the 2016 Olympics in Rio, the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) inducted him into the 7 Club – a group of players who have appeared in up to seven Olympic Games.

While we think that, with his experience, he should assist in discovering new Nigerian talent, the 42-year-old has admitted that he wants to be at Tokyo 2020 Olympics. As long as he’s fit enough, who are we to argue? We need the best to go get the gold.