The Nigerian women's national team is – and there is absolutely no debate here – the finest among its African peers, having built that reputation on the back of a record which has seen the Super Falcons win all but three Women's Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) titles since the competition's inception in the nineties.
On the global stage, that pedigree has been burnished. Nigeria have graced the World Cup thrice as often as any other African side has, and their quarter-final finish in 1999 remains the continental benchmark.
Where the nine-time African champions has failed to establish preeminence, though, is at the Olympics. Only on three previous occasions have they been participants at the quadrennial event, and while a fourth involvement is on the horizon this summer, it will come 16 good years since the last.
This, by way of a breakdown, is the Falcons’ not-so-illustrious Olympics history.
Sydney 2000 & Beijing 2008: First-round exits
A year after that aforementioned high at the Mundial, Nigeria took to the Olympic stage in Australia hoping to make a similar impact. The odds were stacked heavily against them, though, planted in a tough group that featured three teams – USA, China and Norway – that had either won a World Cup final or reached one in the preceding five years.
Unsurprisingly Nigeria crashed out at the first hurdle, having failed to win a single game. It was always going to be a tall order, and so it proved for the late Ismaila Mabo and his charges.
Eight years later in Beijing, the Falcons, now under Joseph Ladipo, would endure a similar ordeal. Again, they had some truly daunting opposition for company in their group: Brazil, Germany, and North Korea.
The first two were by far the top teams in South America and Europe, and had contested the the most recent World Cup final, while the Koreans, in that decade, were the Asian team to beat. Nigeria departed bottom of the group once more, empty-handed and heart-broken.
Athens 2004: Last-eight run at the Olympics
Sandwiched between those gloomy campaigns was a brighter adventure, at the Athens Games.
It helped that Nigeria, returning under Ismaila, found their opponents – Sweden and Japan, before they became truly formidable forces in the international women's game – not quite as daunting as on their debut, and Nigeria held their own, doing just enough in the three-team group to make it into the knock-out phase.
They lost narrowly to the Swedes, but Japan were beaten 1-0 courtesy a Vera Okolo strike. It was, however, in the next round that Nigeria's run came to an end, losing 2-1 to then reigning world champions Germany despite taking a lead through the legendary Mercy Akide.
Disappointing though that was, Nigeria had served up quite an upgrade on their previous performance, albeit one that remains their all-time Olympic peak.
Long hiatus for the Super Falcons at the Olympics
From 2012 to 2020, the Super Falcons missed out on the Olympics entirely.
Their failures, however, were never by much: Cameroon (penalties, final round of qualification), Equatorial Guinea (extra-time, penultimate round), Ivory Coast (away goals, third round) in that order, stopped the Falcons from flying to the tournaments in London, Rio, and Tokyo, respectively.
That miserable run has now been halted by Randy Waldrum's team, securing a long-awaited return to the Games with victory over rivals South Africa.
They will have to outdo themselves to make that comeback a memorable one, though, with three of the best – World Cup holders Spain, 2011 queens Japan, and perennial favourites Brazil – in their bracket.
A strong outing at the Mundial last year stirs up promise, but fulfilling it requires that the Super Falcons punch above their weight to make up for lost time.
