Nigeria’s participation at the Commonwealth games 2018

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The Commonwealth games may not raise so much buzz as the Olympics games but there is no denying the fact that there will be no shortage of actions as 6600 athletes compete in the 21st edition of the (Commonwealth) games in the Gold Coast city of Australia- just for the mention, a couple of events will be held in some other Australian cities like Brisbane, Belmont, Cairns and Townsville.

Nigeria will be participating in the competition for the fourteenth time, and with the games beginning on the 4th of April, 2018, we have deemed it fit to look at the different events that Nigerian athletes will be taking part in. By the way; of the 18 sports that will be contested at the 2018 Commonwealth games, Nigeria will play a part in 8 different sorts and will be represented by 90 different athletes [competing across various sporting events].

Athletics
Athletics has always been one of the surest avenue through which Nigeria has been raking in medals in previous editions, and considering the strong track and field contingent, the nation will be hoping that the rain of medals [in athletics] keeps pouring down at this year’s games. Nigeria has athletes that will be competing in track events such as the 100m- and 200m- sprints, 400m, 4 X 100m- and 4 X 400m- relay races, 110m- and 400m- hurdles and 20km walk. In the field event, Nigeria will be participating in the hammer throw, javelin throw, long jump, triple jump and high. The country has a total of 39 athletes- 19 men and 20 women- in the track and field events.

Basketball
Basketball makes a return at the Commonwealth games and Nigeria [having qualified as one of the top-ranked Commonwealth nations in the FIBA ranking] will not be missing from the party. The D’Tigers have been drawn in the same group with Australia, Canada and New Zealand, and will play their first game [against New Zealand] on the 6th of April. The team list consists of Ikechukwu Diogu, Abdul Yahaya, Azuoma Dike, Eli Dung, God’sgift Achiuwa, Uchenna Iroegbu, Prince Orizu, Musa Usman, Abdulwahab Yakub, Olalekan Olatunji, Yakubu Istifanus and Uchechi Ofoegbu.

Boxing
Nigeria will be duly represented by 8 boxers in 7 different categories. The Nigerian boxing team includes:
Men: Sikiru Ojo (56kg), Adeola Soyoye (60kg), Osita Umeh (69kg) and Lukmon Lawal (81kg).
Women: Ayisat Oriyomi (51kg), Yetunde Odunuga (60kg), Itunu Oriola (69kg) and Milicent Aboegbulem (75kg).
The boxing event starts on the 5th of April.

Gymnastics
Nigeria will be participating in rhythmic gymnastics for the first time at the Commonwealth games. Representing the nation in the women’s event is Jade Faulkner who has been cleared in time [by the International Federation of Gymnastics] to don Nigeria’s color at the games- Jade represented Great Britain at the London 2012 Summer Olympics. Tayo Oke Fakiyesi will be competing in the men’s artistic gymnastic event.

Powerlifting
Nigerian athletes will yet compete in powerlifting with a total of 6 athletes- 3 men and 3 women. Esther Onyema and Ndidi Nwosu will contest in the women’s heavyweight category while Lucy Ejike vies for a place on the podium in the lightweight category. On the part of men; Paul Kehinde and Abdulazeez Ibrahim compete in the heavyweight classification while Roland Ezuruike defends the nation’s interest in the lightweight category.

Table Tennis
Nigeria’s presence will also be felt in the table tennis event as our athletes compete in the singles, doubles and para sport events. Leading the country’s charge for medals are veteran table tennis players like Segun Toriola, Quadri Aruna and Bode Abiodun. Others are Temitope ogunsanya, Olajide Omotayo, Azeez Jamiu and Faith Obazuaye.

Weightlifting
In weightlifting, Nigeria has representatives in the men’s 62kg and 85kg categories- Favour Agboro and Michael Ayalewechi in respective order- and women’s 48kg and 53kg events- Monica Uweh and Fatima Yakubu.

Wrestling
The wrestling contingent has the second largest number of athletes [for individual sporting events] that the country will be presenting at this year’s Commonwealth games. The team consists of 6 men and women that will be competing in various categories. The wrestlers are listed thus:
Women: Miesinnei Genesis (50kg), Bose Samuel (53kg), Odunayo Adekuoroye (57kg), Aminat Adeniyi (62kg), Blessing Oborududu (68kg) and Blessing Onyebuchi (76kg).
Men: Ebikewenimo Welson (57kg), Amas Daniel (68kg), Assizecourt Ebimienfaghe (74kg), Melvin Bibo (86kg), Soso Tamarau (97kg) and Sinivie Boltic (125kg).

The performance/result thus far
Actions are currently ongoing across different centers in the Gold Coast city of Australia as the Commonwealth Games enter Day 7, and at this point in time, we will like to see how well the Nigerian contingent has performed thus far. The journey has been one of mixed fortunes as we have seen some disappointing runs as well as moments of glory with the team – Team Nigeria – presently occupying the 10th position on the medal table after amassing 4 gold medals and 4 silver medals.

The powerlifting event has been the most fertile ground for Nigeria as the country’s athletes have been able to claim a total of 6 medals- four gold medals and two silver medals from there. On the other hand, the D’Tigers are out of contention for a place on the podium as they have lost all their group matches thus crashing out of the basketball competition. And in the boxing event, the country’s hope of winning medals lies on the shoulders of the duo of Milicent Agboegbulem and Yetunde Odunuga as all the other boxers- 4 male boxers and 2 female boxers- have been eliminated. Milicent and Yetunde are already guaranteed a bronze medal in their respective category- 75kg and 60kg- even as they contest the semifinal bout. Milicent’s next fight is against home girl, Caitlin Parker while Yetunde slugs it out with England’s Paige Murney for a spot in the final. Athletics- particularly the track events- have not been so fruitful as our athletes keep missing out of the top three positions.

The low points recorded in those other sports cannot however take the shine off a couple of athletes who have thus far helped the nation to a ‘respectable position’ on the medal table. So, let’s take some moment to know [and celebrate] those who have ‘inked’ their names [as well as that of Nigeria] on the plaque of honour.

The Gold Medalists
Roland Ezuruike
Roland Ezuruike became the first Nigerian athlete to win a gold medal in this year’s edition of the games as he lifted 224.3kg in the men’s lightweight category of the powerlifting event. It is worth noting that this win ensured that he went a step better than what he achieved at Glasgow 2014.

Abdulazeez Ibrahim
In the men’s heavyweight division, Abdulazeez Ibrahim’s lift of 191kg was good enough to beat off Malaysia’s Yee Khie Jong’s 188kg and India’s Sachin Chaudhary’s 181kg returns.

Esther Oyema
On her way to standing shoulders above the rest [on the podium], impressive Esther Oyema was able to shatter the world record thus setting a new record of 141.6kg in the women’s lightweight category of the powerlifting event.

Ndidi Nwosu
Nigeria’s dominance in powerlifting was there for all to see as Ndidi Nwosu attained a lift of 110.4kg to claim the gold medal in the women’s heavyweight division.

The Silver Medalists
Paul Kehinde
Seasoned powerlifter, Paul Kehinde was unable to defend the title he won in Glasgow as he lost out to his compatriot, Roland Ezuruike- thus having to settle for a silver medal. He was able to achieve this with a lift of 219.9kg.

Lucy Ejike
Veteran powerlifter, Lucy Ejike could only make with a silver medal as her return of 134.1kg was not sufficient to upstage Esther Oyema’s record-smashing lift in the women’s lightweight category.

Chukwuebuka Enekwechi
In the shot put event, Chukwuebuka Enekwechi’s narrowly miss out of a gold medal finish as his throw of 21.14m came some distance short of New Zealand’s Tom Walsh’s throw of 21.41m. The throw was however enough to fetch him a silver medal.

Nigeria’s table tennis team
Nigeria got another silver medal in the men’s team table tennis event as the trio of Bode Abiodun, Segun Toriola and Olajide Omolade were defeated by the Indian team in the final.