After claiming three medals on the penultimate day of the 2024 Paralympics in Paris, Team Nigeria aims to increase their medal count to eight on the final day in their last two para-powerlifting events.
Isau Ogunkunle (para-table tennis bronze), Bose Omolayo (para-powerlifting silver), and Flora Ugwunwa (women’s javelin silver) all made it to the podium on Saturday, bringing Nigeria’s total to six medals.
The team hopes to add more today, with Tokyo 2020 gold medallist and Commonwealth Games champion Folashade Olwafemiayo and Loveline Obiji competing in the women’s +86kg and 86kg events, respectively.
Ugwunwa kicked off Saturday’s medal haul by securing silver in the Women’s Javelin F54 with a throw of 19.26 m, maintaining her position among the top para-athletes globally.
She placed second behind Uzbekistan’s Nurkhon Kurbanova, who won the gold medal with a world record-breaking throw of 21.12 m, surpassing the Paralympic record set by Ugwunwa in 2016. Iran’s Elham Salehi took bronze with a distance of 16.24 m.
Ugwunwa’s silver was Nigeria’s only track and field medal, as Lauritta Onye missed the podium in the Women’s Shot Put F40.
Later, Omolayo, who previously won gold in powerlifting at the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, lifted 145 kg to secure another silver for Nigeria. She finished behind China’s Han Miayou, who set a new world record with a 154 kg lift, while Egypt’s Safaa Hassan claimed bronze with a 139 kg lift.
In the men’s class 4 table tennis singles, Ogunkunle secured bronze despite a 3-1 semi-final loss to South Korea’s Kim Young-gun at the South Arena in Paris. The last time Nigeria won medals in the singles event was at the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games, where Tajudeen Agunbiade and Alabi Olufemi secured gold and bronze, respectively.
Before Saturday’s successes, Nigeria had already won three medals in para-athletics, para-table tennis, and para-badminton.
If Oluwafemiayo and Obiji secure podium finishes today, Nigeria’s tally will rise to eight medals—a result that would be satisfying for Nigerians, especially considering the country’s failure to win any medals at the Paris Olympics a few weeks ago.
Nigeria currently sits in joint 51st place on the medal table, tied with Ireland, with both nations holding one gold, three silver, and two bronze medals.
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