African Games: Oborududu, Adekuoroye shine | Nigerian wrestlers win 6 gold medals

It was a gold rush for team Nigeria on day three of the ongoing 2024 African Games in Ghana as wrestling raked in six gold medals for the country. 

The gold medal haul began when Mercy Genesis defeated Egypt’s Abdallah Mohamed in the final of the women’s freestyle 50kg wrestling category at the Hana Hathramani Hall in Accra on Sunday.

Genesis bested her opponent via a pinfall to become the first woman to win a gold medal for Nigeria at the Games. 

Shortly, Christiana Ogunsanya also took gold in the women’s 50kg freestyle. She defeated Bakayoko Celine-Josee of Cote d’Ivoire 11-0 via technical superiority.

Then, Odunayo Adekuoroye won her third consecutive African Games gold medal after beating Morroco’s Zainab Hassoune 6-0  via pinfall in the final of the women’s 57kg freestyle wrestling.

Adekuruoye had previously won gold in the women’s 53kg freestyle wrestling in Brazaville in 2015, followed by another gold when she upgraded to the 57kg category in Rabat in 2019. 

Blessing Oborududu also earned her third consecutive African Games gold medal after defeating Bladine Ngiri in the final of the women’s 68kg freestyle wrestling. 

Oborududu continued her consistent run of winning medals for Nigeria in major competitions. She won silver at the Tokyo Olympics and gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Hannah Reuben and Esther Kolawole also won gold medals for Nigeria in the women’s 62kg and 76kg freestyle wrestling, respectively. 

In Badminton, Anuoluwapo Opeyori defeated compatriot Godwin Olofua 2-1 in the final of men’s singles to win gold.