Team Nigeria climbed to the eighth position from their previous 11th position on the medals table of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games after the country amassed four gold medals on Friday in athletics and wrestling.
While Tobi Amusan and Suwaibidu Galadima added two gold medals in athletics, Odundayo Adekuoroye and Blessing Oborududu won two gold medals in wrestling to take the country’s medal haul to 18 – eight gold, five silver and five bronze – at the end of events on Friday. Three bronze medals were also won in boxing and wrestling.
Amusan also made history as she became the first Nigerian female hurdler to win gold at the Games.
The 2015 All Africa Games gold medallist won the women’s 100m hurdles in 12.68secs to claim her first Commonwealth Games gold for Nigeria.
In the men’s T47 100m final, para-athlete Galadima ran the race of his life to win in a time of 11.04secs.
Having won silver and two bronze on Thursday in wrestling, Glasgow 2014 gold medallist Adekuroye became the first wrestler to win gold for Nigeria at the Games after she defeated India’s Pooja Dhanda 7-5 in the final of the 57kg category of the women’s freestyle.
Glasgow 2014 bronze medallist Oborududu grabbed the fourth gold of the day in the 68kg of the women’s freestyle after making a comeback to beat Canada’s Danielle Lappage to claim a 4-3 victory by points. It was her first Commonwealth Games title.
Daniel Amas won bronze in the 65kg of the men’s freestyle after beating Canada’s Vincent de Marinis 4-4 by criteria. Boxer Milicent Agboegbulem claimed bronze in the women’s 75kg category after losing 5-0 to Australia’s Caitlin Parker in the semi-final while Yetunde Odunuga won the third bronze in the women’s 65kg after she also lost 4-1 to England’s Paige Murney in their semi-final clash.
Meanwhile, Aruna Quadri and Segun Toriola were defeated 3-1 in the quarterfinal of the men’s doubles by Singapore’s Pang Yew En Koen and Poh Shoo Feng Ethan.
However, Quadri, who is the only player left in the men’s singles event for Nigeria, went on to defeat India’s Harmeet Desai 4-0 to book a place in Saturday’s semi-final against Sharath Achanta.
Also, Faith Obazuaye defeated Felicity Pickard of England to qualify for the final of the women’s TT6-10 table tennis event. She plays Australia’s Melissa Taper in the gold medal match today.
In other events, the Nigerian men’s relay teams suffered mixed fortunes as the 4x100m team – led by Seye Ogunlewe – qualified for Saturday’s final while the men’s 4x400m team were disqualified due to a lane infringement. The 4x100m team ran a season’s best of 38.52secs to qualify for the final.
Stephen Mozia finished seventh in the final of the men’s discus with a throw of 59.58m while Samuel Kure placed eighth in the men’s javelin qualification Group A with his best mark of 73.49m.Kure would not compete in the final after ranking 15th overall on the standings.
The country’s wrestlers continue their quest for more gold on Saturday as Mercy Genesis, Sinivie Boltic, Aminat Adeniyi and Melvin Bibo take to the mat.
Doreen Amata also competes in the women’s high jump while the women’s 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams compete in the finals.
