2022 Commonwealth Games Day 8 Recap: Team Nigeria wrestlers come through with medal rush
Team Nigeria continued its ascent of the medal table at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Day 8 events, with the wrestling team coming to the fore.
Three-time Commonwealth Games champion Odunayo Adekuruoye showed her class once more as she defended her title in the women’s 57kg category, ending up with a gold medal in the event after defeating Veronica Ayo, Sophia Ayieta and Hannah Taylor in the rounds leading up to the final, and India’s Anshu Malik in the final by seven points to three. The Nigerian star has not lost a single Commonwealth Games match since 2014.
In the women’s 68kg wrestling event, Olympic medalist Blessing Oborodudu ran away with the gold medal after defeating Divya Kakran and Tiger Cocker-Lemale by Technical Superiority in the preliminary rounds. She then defeated Canada’s Linda Morais in the final by five points to one.
In the women’s 62kg wrestling, Esther Kolawole won the bronze medal with a brutal performance against Scotland’s Abbie Fountain. Kolawole needed only 20 seconds to secure a 10-0 win over her Scottish opponent and claim the bronze in her category.
In the women’s 100m Hurdles, World champion and World record holder Tobi Amusan competed at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Day 8. She booked her place in the final after another scintillating performance in the semifinals which she won in a time of 12.40s.
In the women’s long jump, Commonwealth champion Ese Brume secured her place in the final with a leap of 6.81m. She will be joined in the final by youngster Ruth Usoro, who qualified with a leap of 6.59m.
In the men’s 200m semifinals, teenage sensation Udodi Onwuzuruike secured a place in the final as he won Heat 2 in 20.59s. The 19-year-old will be the only Nigerian in the final after both Alaba Akintola (21.16s) and Emmanuel Ojeli (21.39s) failed in their respective heats.
In the women’s 200m semifinals, 19-year-old Favour Ofili coasted to a win that takes her to the finals, winning her heat in a time of 22.66s, the second-fastest time at the competition so far.
In the men’s shot-put final, Chukwuebuka Enekwechi narrowly missed out on a medal as he finished in fourth place despite having four attempts above 20m. His best mark was 20.36m with his last throw.
In the men’s and women’s 400m, all of Team Nigeria’s representatives failed to make it into the final. Patience Okon-George finished 5th in her heat while Sikiru Adewale and Nathaniel Samson finished in sixth place in their respective heats.
Ruth Usoro finished a respectable fifth in the women’s triple jump event on the 2022 Commonwealth Games Day 8. She leapt to a distance of 14.02m, missing out on a medal narrowly.
