Gold Medals Finally
The
2018 Common Wealth Games in Gold Coast Australia, has not been a bit challenging for the Nigerian team with favorites being dropped or were not able to do so much in the finals of their competitions.
However, that all changed when in day 6, the Nigerian team recorded
four GOLD medals.
The responsible party for this great accomplishment were the powerlifters who certainly were not in the competition to play-calm but to win big!
Roland Ezuruike, Esther Oyema, Ndidi Nwosu and Abdulazeez Ibrahim were all in complete dominance of their events as they stunned opponents to win GOLD for Nigerian in the men and women’s Lightweight and Heavyweight Powerlifting events.
Ezurike began the Gold medal haul for Nigeria as he accrued a total of 224.3 points after he successfully lifted 188kg and 194kg to win the Men’s Lightweight category. It was a 1-2 win for Nigeria as Paul Kehinde secured a silver medal with 219.9 points.
Esther Oyema did not only win GOLD in her category, but she broke the World Record (WR) in the women’s Lightweight category. She lifted a total weight of 131kg, 5kg more than she lifted to win gold four years ago in Glasgow. Her compatriot, Lucy Ejike secured the Silver medal on 134.1points.
Ndidi Nwosu also won GOLD in the powerlifting event after she garnered a total of 110.4 points from successfully lifting 110kg and 120kg respectively.
Abdulazeez Ibrahim won Nigeria’s last GOLD as he clearly defended his title to establish his dominance in the event with 199,1 points after he lifted 220kg in the men’s Heavyweight category.
In Table Tennis, Nigerian Silver medalist, Bode Abiodun had a rather great start in the Men’s Singles event as he calmly breezed past Sierra Leones’s Rene Benjamin 4-0 (11-3, 11-3, 11-5 and 11-3). Later in the same day, Abiodun also defeated Kiribati’s Nooa Takooa.
In the women’s TT6-10 Sinles Para-Table Tennis fix, Faith Obazuaye came out on top of her competition, defeating games host team representative Andrea McDonnell 3-0 (11-9, 11-9 and 11-6).
In Athletics, Yinka Ajayi qualified for the finals of the women’s 400m after she ran to finish 2nd in semi-final Heat 2.
Both Praise Idamadudu and Isoken Igbinosun finished 4th in their heats with Idamadudu clocking a Season’s Best (SB) of 23.55s.
In the male category of the event, Emmanuel Arowolo finished his Heat in 3rd place to secure a spot in the semi-final.
In the Men’s 400m Hurdles, Nigeria’s duo Riliwan Alowonle and Glory Nathaniel both qualified for the final of the event after they both set a Person Best (PB) record of 49.49s and 55.01s respectively.
On the other hand, Rita Ossai and Henry Okorie were unable to move on in their Heats, with Okorie finishing 7th in 52.14s and Ossai Did Not Finish (DNF) because she stumbled at the start of her race.
In the field event, Nigerian duo Queeb Obisesan and Blessing Ibrahim both finished 5th to qualify for the final of the Women’s Hammer throw and Triple Jump event.
