Nigeria has won 35 medals – 12 gold, 9 silver and 14 bronze medals – as of the final day of action in Birmingham on Monday.
Team Nigeria moved up to the seventh spot on the overall medals table and number 1 in Africa in the just concluded Commonwealth Game 2022.
Team Nigeria’s women 4x100m relay team yesterday won the elusive 4x100m women’s relay gold medal at the ongoing Commonwealth Games at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium.
Tobi Amusan, the world and Commonwealth Games 100m hurdles champion, inspired Nigeria’s women relay team to a new African record of 42.10 seconds, shattering the one-month-old 42.22 seconds African record they set in Oregon, USA, at the World Athletics Championships.
World and Commonwealth Games 100m hurdles champion and record holder, Amusan, started the historic run with a brilliant first leg before handing over to Favour Ofili who ensured Nigeria maintained the advantage before giving the baton to Chukwuma, the individual 100m finalist.
Rosemary Chukwuma ran the curve perfectly and handed over to reigning Nigerian 100m queen, Nzubechi Nwokocha in first position.
The 21-year-old Nwokocha maintained the advantage despite the threat by Great Britain’s anchor leg runner, Darly Neita, to bring home Team Nigeria’s first women’s 4 x 100m relay gold.
However, the situation wasn’t the same for the men’s team who settled for bronze in the same event category. Gold and silver places went to England and Trinidad & Tobago.
The quartet of Udodi Onwuzurike, Favour Ashe, Alaba Akintola and Raymond Ekevwo also made history with the bronze medal win.
Meanwhile, Tobiloba Ayomide Amusan has made history as the first Nigeria track and field athlete and the second in history to successfully defend a Commonwealth Games 100m hurdles title.
The petite 25-year-old Nigerian also set a new 12.30 seconds Games record on the way to winning the event’s gold.
Amusan, the reigning World champion and world record holder in the event, also became the first Nigerian track and field athlete to win a gold medal at two editions of the Games.
With the gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Amusan has now become the only Nigerian athlete in history to complete a grand slam of titles at the continental, Commonwealth and world levels after winning gold at the 22nd African Athletics championships in Mauritius in June and the World Athletics championships in Oregon, USA, last month.
In the women’s long jump event, Ese Brume leaped a distance of 6.99m to win gold medal. She had a no jump on her first attempt but bounced back right away to jump 6.99m to take the lead in the final and set a new Games record.
She added no jump, 6.99m, 6.81m, 6.99m, and 6.96m in her subsequent jumps but none of her opponents could match or surpass her, thereby securing gold with a jump to spare.
However, on her very last attempt, Brume jumped seven meters for another Games Record to become the first woman to jump that far in the history of the Commonwealth Games.
Team Nigeria put on a very impressive performance right from the start of the event, proving why they are known as the Giants of Africa.
