Fact-Check: X-user’s Claim on Tobi Amusan’s Medal Presentation without New National Anthem, Misleading!
BY- Afeez Rabiu
Claim: A post on X from @whatsappblog9ja, posted on July 28, 2024, with over 67.9K views, claims Tobi Amusan was awarded a medal at the ongoing Olympics without playing the new Nigeria’s national anthem. The video caption inaccurately states it was her first Olympic medal.
Verdict: Misleading
Full Text:
The post claims that Nigeria’s new national anthem was not played during Tobi Amusan’s medal presentation at the Olympics, and it falsely states that Amusan earned her first-ever Olympic medal. The video clip shows Amusan receiving a medal with an overlay that misidentifies the event and the achievement.
As captioned on the video overlay, “Tobi Amusan becomes the world record holder and champion, earning Nigeria her first ever medal at the olympics’ ‘, the post inscribed.
Verification:
According to Factcheckafrica, the video is from the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, 2022, not the ongoing 2024 Olympics. Tobi Amusan set a world record and won gold in the women’s 100m hurdles at this event in 2022 and not as recent as purported.
Original footage from the event shows that the old Nigerian National Anthem was recited at the medal presentation. According to regulations, it is standard protocol to play the national anthem at the Olympics and also at the World Athletics Championships except of course for athletes that are registered as neutral athelets. The post misleadingly suggests a protocol breach at the Olympics based on a different event.
The misleading tweet has reached a large audience, causing misinformation. Inaccurate recognition of athletes’ achievements, and misrepresenting events to create unnecessary controversy.
Conclusion
The claim that the video is from the ongoing Paris 2024 Olympics and that new Nigeria’s national anthem was not played is false. The video is from the 2022 World Athletics Championships, where Tobi Amusan set a world record and won gold. It is important to verify facts before sharing content to avoid spreading misinformation.
