Nigerian Ese Ukpeselae may have finished last in the women's individual sprint qualifying for the track events at the Paris Olympics on Friday. But considering that she had not trained at the velodrome for over a year and was riding a borrowed bike, her 200m flying lap was a respectable 11.652 seconds. She hoped it would inspire her home country to invest in track cycling.

Ukpeselae was very surprised by the time and felt as happy as if she had won the race.

"I was very happy because I had never done 11 (seconds) before, on a flying lap. I always do 12 laps, sometimes 13," Ukpeselae told Cycling News. 'I am amazed that I was able to do 11 laps without any preparation. There are people who have been preparing for this race for the last three years, and they did 11 laps just like me. So I was very, very happy, as if I had won the race."

"If I had prepared, I think I would have done better. Because I had never trained for it.

Ukpeselae was a surprise entry in the women's sprint event. She was in Paris for the women's road race, but was added to the track roster after the UCI disqualified Shahad Said from the Egyptian national team. The Egyptian national team had been selected for the Olympic team despite the fact that she had been suspended after crashing a rival during the national championships.

Nigeria's entry was notified less than a week before the start of the Paris Olympics; the German team that helped Ukpeserei's team at the 2022 UCI Track World Championships when they lacked an aerobar for the team pursuit.

This time, Ukpeselaje was able to ride a specially designed bike by the FES (Institut für Forschung und Entwicklung von Sportgeräten).

"The bike was amazing," he said. When you're given a new bike in a race, sometimes you find it difficult because you haven't trained on it or you're not used to it, but in my case, they gave me a bike and I rode it. But in my case, from the first day they gave me the bike, it was just like the bike I had been using. It was very comfortable [because] they noticed I was in trouble and they helped me.

Ukpeselae is not new to track cycling and has competed in a variety of events at international competitions, including team pursuit, team sprint, 500m time trial, keirin, and omnium, but has not regularly competed in individual sprint, only at continental championships.

However, Nigeria has one of the most expensive sports stadiums in the world, a wooden velodrome, but the facility has a history of neglect. Although recently renovated, the stadium is designated as a multipurpose facility and is rented for religious and other events for the equivalent of 375 euros per day.

Ukpeseleye hoped that her appearance and promising results at the Olympics would lead to the velodrome being reserved for its original purpose.

"We have a very beautiful track. Our track is the best in Africa, but we are not using it. They have not given us permission," Ukpeselae said.

"We have competitions and sometimes we want to practice at the velodrome, but they say we can't use it because of the parties. When I go to Glasgow for the World Championships I have to train on the track. But unfortunately, I can't use the track.

She said that sometimes users nail banners to the wooden track surface for parties.

"It's like they don't understand what a track is. Sometimes at parties they put nails in the course, and those nails cause accidents when they are running. We get a flat tire and crash.

"We have a lot to learn about that. This truck is not for partying.

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