Nigeria’s Onyekwere Chioma grabbed the gold medal in discus throw after a series of superb throws to become the first Nigerian ever to win gold in the event as Amaechi Obiageri joined her on the podium with a bronze medal in same event as the 2022
Onyekwere threw a season best 61.70m while Amechi threw 56.99m. England’s Jade Lally denied Nigeria a one-two finish by pushing Obiageri to the third position.
The medal rain continued for Team Nigeria on Tuesday as Osijo Mary won a bronze medal in the women’s 87KG weightlifting event .
Mary lifted a total 236KG to finish in third place.
In Athletics, Ezekiel Nathaniel qualified for the final of the men’s 400m hurdles, finishing second in the first semi-final with a time of 50.38s to book his place in the final.
Though she was ranked second among the throwers on parade ahead of the final, Onyekwere proved the bookmakers wrong; beating the fans’ favourite to the gold medal.
Aside from Onyekwere’s gold, the current national champion, Obiageri Amaechi, also got on the podium, clinching the bronze medal in this event.
The two medals won on Tuesday night are the first set of medals Nigeria will win in Athletics at the ongoing Games in Birmingham.
It is expected that more medals will be raked in on Day 2 of the Athletics event, with so many finals lined up for Wednesday.
In all, Team Nigeria at the end of Day 5 now has eight medals; three gold, one silver, and four bronze but have dropped to the 10th spot on the medals tables.
Australia still leads the medals chart with a total of 86 medals – 34 gold, 24 silver, and 28 bronze, while the hosts, England are second with 27 gold, 28 silver, and 17 bronze with a total of 72 medals.
New Zealand is third with 24 medals – 13 gold, seven silver, and five bronze
