Nigeria wins three gold as Commonwealth Games begin

NIGERIA made an impressive start to the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow winning six medals, including three golds, as the country’s para powerlifting team dominated the opening day.

The Games, which runs until August 2, attracted about 3,000 athletes from 74 Commonwealth nations and territories competing across 10 sports.

The gold medals came through Esther Nworgu in the women’s lightweight category, Folashade Oluwafemiayo in the women’s heavyweight event and Riluwan Idris in the men’s heavyweight division.

Roland Ezuruike opened Nigeria’s medal account with a silver medal in the men’s lightweight event, while Esther Oyema and Rita Ferdinand also claimed silver medals to take the country’s tally to six.

Oluwafemiayo was the star performer of the day, breaking her own world record twice before producing a remarkable 175kg lift to secure gold. Ferdinand also set a world record in her weight category during her silver-medal performance.

The strong showing briefly sent Team Nigeria to the top of the medals table, with organisers describing the country’s para powerlifting display as one of the highlights of the opening day.

In the men’s 3×3 basketball event, Nigeria defeated the Cayman Islands 21-17 but later lost 21-15 to Australia and 21-10 to New Zealand.

Elsewhere, boxer Ayomide Foly Hassan suffered a Round of 32 defeat to Lesotho’s Refiloe Thai, while swimmer Clinton Opute failed to progress from the heats of the men’s 200m individual medley.

Nurudeen Akewushola is an investigative reporter and fact-checker with The ICIR. He believes courageous in-depth investigative reporting is the key to social justice, accountability and good governance in society. You can reach him via nyahaya@icirnigeria.org and @NurudeenAkewus1 on Twitter.