…Men’s 4×100 team disqualified
The 2018 Commonwealth Games will be concluded today in the Gold Coast, Australia, with Team Nigeria still pushing hard to surpass the medals haul it attained four years ago in Glasgow, Scotland.
At the end of the 2014 edition of the Games, Nigeria finished eighth on the final medals table with 11 gold, 11 silver and 14 bronze as against the 11 gold, 10 silver and 14 bronze medals it won in 2010 at New Delhi, India.
Team Nigeria was on the verge of making history at Glasgow 2014, but for teenage weightlifter, Chika Amalaha, who was stripped of her gold medal after failing drug test.
At the end of hostilities yesterday in Gold Coast, Team Nigeria increased its medals haul to nine gold, eight silver and six bronze medals with female wrestler, Aminat Adeniyi, beating Michelle Fazzari of Canada in the women’s freestyle (62kg) final.
Adeniyi was awarded the fight following injury sustained by Fazzari in the course of the final bout. She now joins Odunayo Adekuoroye and Blessing Oborududu as gold medalists for Nigeria in wrestling event in the Gold Coast.
But it was a different result in the final of the men’s freestyle (86kg) yesterday, as Muhammad Inam of Pakistan defeated Nigeria’s Melvin Bibo. He became the second Nigerian wrestler to win silver at the Games.
In the women’s 4x400m relay final, Nigeria settled for a silver medal, as the team comprising of Patience Okon-George, Glory Nathaniel, Praise Idamadudu and Yinka Ajayi finished with a time of 3:25:29 seconds behind Jamaica, who grabbed the gold with a time of 3:24:00 seconds.
Also yesterday, Nigeria’s women’s 4x100m relay team, made up of Joy Udo-Gabriel, Blessing Okagbare, Tobi Amusan and Rosemary Chukwuma could only pick a bronze medal with a time of 42.75 seconds, behind England and Jamaica, who won the gold and silver with a time of 42.36 and 42.52 seconds respectively.
Okagbare, who won two gold medals in 100m and 200m at Glasgow 2014, refused to enter for the sprint events this time despite breaking Mary Onyali’s 22-years-old African record in the 200m recently in Texas, USA.
Nigeria’s 4x100m relay team of Seye Ogunlewe, Ogho-Oghene Egwero, Usheoritse Itsekiri, and Enoch Adegoke was disqualified yesterday.
