Nigeria stood high on second spot at the end of day one for this year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, as the country’s para-powerlifters justified their ratings by winning three gold and three silver medals from the opening salvo of events.
Sports247 reports that Nigeria started the day with an early high placement on the ranking of nations in Glasgow, following a gold medal won by Esther Nworgu in the women’s lightweight para-powerlifting event.
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Nworgu, who enacted two Commonwealth Games records, set the stage for an early rush of medals for Nigeria, as she lifted 123kg to score 119 points and get the country’s first gold in Glasgow, while Esther Oyema won silver with 125kg and 115.5 points.
Earlier on Friday, Team Nigeria’s camp was set agog with delight when top rated male para-powerlifter, Roland Ezuruike opened Nigeria’s medal haul with a runners-up spot in the men’s lightweight event, which meant the country got one gold and two silver before noon on the opening day in Glasgow.
It could have been two early number one spots for Team Nigeria, as 50-year-old Ezeruike narrowly missed out on the gold medal after failing in his final attempt to lift a record 190kg, but he had to settle for a total of 153.9 points from two successful lifts and secure a silver placement.
Gold went to England’s Mark Swan by two decimal points, as the 25-year-old completed a lift of 222kg – more than three times his body weight – to finish tied with Ezuruike on 153.9 points going into the final round, but they both failed with their final lifts.
Dramatically, Swan took gold based on a coefficient format related to the respective competitor’s body weight, and officials explained that lightweight, designated for athletes with a body weight of up to and including 72kg, is decided by a formula to rank lifts fairly against the athletes’ body weight.
Earlier on Friday, Nigeria’s men’s 3×3 basketball team got a 21-17 victory over Cayman Islands, as Esosa Okundaye and Ikechukwu Nwamu led the scoring with six points each, as they got a good start in the group stage, but later lost to Australia and New Zealand.
Similarly, Nigeria’s first boxing contest ended in disappointment as Ayomide Foly Hassan lost in the men’s 70kg category, after slumping 4-0 to Refiloe Thai of Lesotho and ended his campaign in the opening round.
Later on, Nigeria’s second gold medal came from team captain and para-powerlifting defending champion, Folashade Oluwafemilayo, with a new world record of 134.8 points, while Riluwan Idris got the third in the male heavyweight class, after which Rita Ferdinand won silver with a personal best 128.2 points.
