The doors to the plane were about to close and the flight attendant was reminding passengers to get settled.

Seun Adigun was attempting to finish a quick phone call and it just wasn't working. Too much going on. Too loud. Too many people. Too many distractions.

The former University of Houston track star-turned-Nigerian Olympic hurdler-turned-Nigerian Olympic bobsled driver was on the road. Again.

Adigun and teammates Ngozi Onwumere and Akuoma Omegoa - both former track stars, too - were in California dancing and chatting with Ellen DeGeneres on her nationally syndicated talk show. Now they were headed to New York for a few days for, among other things, a satellite media tour for Team Visa.

Then it was back to Houston for another photo shoot, followed by a double weekend graduation - at Texas Chiropractic College (Doctor of Chiropractic degree) and at UH-Clear Lake, where Adigun is getting a Master of Science in Exercise and Health Sciences.

"It's crazy," she said before a trip to Lagos, Nigeria, before finally heading to Pyeonchang, South Korea, for the Winter Olympics.

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Amid all of that, there was always the team's training.

Adigun has barely had time to catch her breath.

"It's been really hectic … we've all been pulled in different directions," she said.

Olympic pioneers

In the past two months, Adigun and her teammates have gone from a bit of a curiosity to the real deal.

The Nigerian-American trio - they all hold dual citizenship - landed with Team Visa, completed their five qualifying races to land their spot in the Games and will make history as the first bobsled team from Africa to compete in the Winter Olympics.

Suddenly, people can't get enough of their story.

"Star Wars" actor John Boyega, who plays Finn in "The Force Awakens" and "The Last Jedi," was ahead of the crowd when he gave them an emoji-laden shoutout on Instagram last December: "Nigerian bobsled team got me speaking in tongues and prophesying! … I'm going home for my iyawo … best of luck to the team!"

"That was super cool," Adigun said. "It came just after I started the crowd-funding site. I was like, 'Whoa.' "

Six weeks ago, the team didn't know what a satellite media tour was, let alone what to do. Now, everyone from the BBC to CBS, NBC, People and the New York Times wants to talk to them.

And Ellen? Well, let's just say they and their bubbly personalities danced their way into her heart.

"It's a very high-energy level on the show," Adigun said. "We just met the energy we received."

Onwumere, who was a sprinter and long jumper at UH, was so excited she could hardly breathe after the team did the customary dance onto the set.

"I told them I hope they have an emergency room close by because when I meet Ellen …" she said. "My heart. I might scream occasionally. But it's normal. You're Ellen."

Yes, that drew a chuckle from their host.

Adigun, Onwumere and Omegoa are having a blast and capturing hearts everywhere with their personalities.

Finding inspiration

Go ahead and think 1988 Jamaican bobsled team, the first team from a tropical country to compete in the Winter Olympics and inspired the 1993 movie "Cool Runnings." Everyone else does.

It doesn't bother the women. It challenges them.

"You know, if we can do something like (Jamaica did)," Adigun told CBC News, "that would be amazing."

Their success also could open up more avenues for athletes from a country that only knows what winter is from watching television or movies.

Adigun, who ran in the 100-meter hurdles for Nigeria at the 2012 London Olympics, was the force behind the team. She wasn't ready to end her Olympic career. When she watched fellow track Olympians Lolo Jones, Lauryn Williams and Aja Evans transition from track to bobsled for the 2014 Games, Adigun decided to give it a try. After just three months of training, she made the 2015 U.S. National team.

Then, she talked Onwumere, who ran at UH when Adigun was an assistant coach, and Omegoa, who competed at Minnesota, into joining her. They train in Houston and, like the Jamaican team, they use a simulated sled.

Unlike "Cool Runnings," where the team practiced in a bathtub or in a push cart without wheels, Adigun and her team use a makeshift wooden bobsled. Adigun built the "sled" - nicknamed The Maeflower in honor of her late stepsister Amezee - from scratch to use on a running track.

They started their dream with a GoFundMe page and raised $75,000 to travel to competitions as well as train in Canada and Olympic training sites. Now, they have Team Visa behind them, too.

Adigun admits the team is still learning the sport and told the "Ellen" audience driving a bobsled in competition was like a 16-year-old who just got his or her driver's license jumping into a car at Daytona. She is the two-person sled's driver and either Onwumere or Omegoa will be behind her as brakewoman.

They get up to speeds of about 84 mph and when Ellen asked about the ride, they all started giggling.

"Every time I cross the finish line," Adigun said, "I thank God we survived."

Cause for celebration

Seriously, though, Adigun knows just getting through those qualifiers is a milestone for Nigeria and Africa.

"I couldn't breathe, literally," she said of that final qualifying run. "I think it was a moment of celebration only because of the milestones that we created along this entire journey."

As for being in the spotlight? Adigun makes sure the message from the media swirl is about more than their journey.

"It's not about us," she said. "It's primarily about the sport. We want people to understand the sport and spread the word about it."

One interview at a time.

Melanie Hauser is a freelance writer.