It was a record-breaking outing for Team Nigeria at the just concluded 22nd edition of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) in Birmingham, United Kingdom.
At the end of the competition on 8 August, Team Nigeria amassed a total of 12 Gold, 9 Silver and 14 Bronze medals, bringing the numbers to a total of 35 medals, finishing 7th on the medal standings table.
Here, we spotlight three Nigerian female athletes who broke several records at the games, thereby writing their names in the annals of the competition and putting Nigeria on the global map.
Tobi Amusan
Nigerian athlete, Tobi Amusan, born Oluwatobiloba Ayomide Amusan, on Sunday, 7 August clinched the women’s 100m hurdles gold at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Amusan, 25, crossed the finishing line in 12.30s, setting a new Commonwealth Games record in the women’s 100m-hurdles, becoming the first and only Nigerian to be crowned African, Commonwealth, and World champion in the same year.
She also led the Nigerian team to win the 4x100m women’s relay with a new African record of 42.10 second.
According to World Athletics, Amusan is a one-time world champion, two-time African champion, three-time Commonwealth Games winner, among others.
Ese Brume
Brume maintained her enviable record of getting a medal in every tournament where she has represented Nigeria by winning gold for Nigeria in the women’s long jump at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
The three-time African senior champion leapt 7.00 metres to win gold and set a new Commonwealth Games record.
By winning gold in Birmingham, Brume, 26, reclaimed the Commonwealth Games long jump title.
Brume first won the title in 2014 but was unavoidably absent in the Gold Coast, Australia four years ago to defend her title.
With a World Athletics Championships silver last month in Oregon, USA, Brume returned to the Commonwealth Games stage with just one thing on her mind: to reclaim her title, and she did it breaking the 6.97m Games record held by Australia’s Bronwyn Thompson twice.
According to World Athletics, Brume is a two-time Commonwealth Games winner, three-time African champion, one-time All-African Games winner, Current African Record holder in long jump, among others.
Adijat Olarinoye
Weightlifter Adijat Adenike Olarinoye beat others in the women’s 55kg category to win the first gold for Nigeria at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and set a new Games record on Saturday, 6 August.
Apart from winning the gold medal, Olarinoye set a new Commonwealth Games record by lifting 92kg in snatch and 111kg in clean and jerk, making 203kg in total.
The 23-year-old who is the captain of the weightlifting team to Birmingham is not a green-horn having won gold medal at the 2019 Africa Games in Rabat as well as silver medal at the 2021 World Championship held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
While competing in the 2019 African Games, Olarinoye lifted 116 kg on August 26, setting a new African record in the clean and jerk division of weightlifting.
