Team Nigeria Hopeful as Commonwealth Games Begins

As the Commonwealth Games opens today in Glasgow, Scotland, Team Nigeria will be aiming to match or even surpass her best ever performance at the sport fiesta formerly called the British Empire Games.

Of course, the 1994 edition hosted by the city of Victoria, Canada, remains evergreen in the memories of Nigerians. That was where Nigeria grabbed 37 medals (11 gold, 13 silver, and 13 bronze) to record her best ever outing to date.

Starting today through August 3, all eyes will be on Glasgow, with Nigerians waiting for another miracle to happen, perhaps, to mark our centenary as a nation.  

At this edition featuring 71 countries in 261 events of 17 sports, Nigeria will be participating in six sports namely; athletics (46 athletes), boxing (11boxers), table tennis (10 players), shooting (16 shooters), weightlifting (15 lifters) and wrestling (14 wrestlers). Team Nigeria will also be competing in power-lifting (6 lifters) and para-athletics (9 athletes). In all, 127 athletes will be representing Nigeria in Glasgow.

Four years ago in Delhi, India, Team Nigeria came very close to matching the feat in Canada. Nigeria won the same number of gold medals but was five silver short of equaling that best ever outing in Canada.

Now, despite the late preparations and the usual administrative bungling that go with attending global sports fiestas, Team Nigerian athletes are expected to give their bests once more. The need to clean up the mess caused by the recent, self-inflicted suspension from FIFA becomes more evident so as to return smiles to the faces of sports loving citizens.

Will Blessing Okagbare be up to the task of salvaging the nation’s image in track and field once more? Last August at the IAAF World Championships, the University of Texas in El Paso (UTEP) graduate won a silver and bronze in the women’s long jump and 200m to equal Nigeria’s best outing at the competition.

As Team Nigeria’s best prospect for athletics’ medals, the Delta girl has no doubt proved this season that she is capable of matching the two gold medals and a silver picked by Mary Onyali-Omagbemi at the edition in Victoria, Canada.

The Beijing 2008 Olympics bronze medalist will be competing in the women’s 100 metre, 200m, 4x100m and the long jump when the track and field events begin. With a personal best of 10.79 seconds in the 100m, and 22.23 seconds in the 200m, Okagbare is expected to give the Jamaicans and other stars from the Caribbeans a run for their money. Her best of 7.00m in the long jump should be able to guarantee her a podium appearance.

Tosin Oke should be able to retain the gold medal he won in the men’s triple jump at the Delhi Games four years ago.
The Athletic Federation of Nigeria’s (AFN) legion of foreign-based athletes still hold the aces when it comes to performance and this is where the likes of Regina George, Gloria Asumnu, Stephanie Kalu, Noah Akwu and throw sensation, Nigerian American-born shot putter, Stephen Mozia, become very relevant. The new national record of 20.79m set by Mozia two months ago in the USA ought to be able to guarantee him a place on the podium if he is able to repeat the feat.

Interestingly, if there is any wrestler feared most in the free style category in the Commonwealth, he is Team Nigeria’s Sinivie Boltic. He proved it at Delhi by winning the gold in that category. Boltic has not diminished in ranking and is expected to retain his precious medal in Glasgow. His coach and federation president, Daniel Igali, knows all about wrestling, haven won gold medals at the World Champion and the Olympic (Sydney 2000) for his adopted country, Canada.

The inclusion of Blessing Oborodudu (63kg) and Aminat Adeniyi in the women’s team is bound to produce a harvest of medals in the sport. Both Oborodudu and Adeniyi won gold at the 2014 Senior African Wrestling Championships in Tunisia in March. Wrestling accounted for three gold, three silver and seven bronze medals at the Delhi Games.

In table tennis, the transformation embarked upon by Wahid Enitan-Oshodi is expected to produce result in Glasgow. The Lagos State Sports commissioner has returned life to the game to warrant Nigerians to begin to look forward to good news from the Aruna Quadri led team. Veteran players like Funke Oshonaike and Edem Offiong have all promised not to disappoint.
At the last edition in Delhi four years ago, Team Nigeria finished ninth with 11 gold, eight silver and 14 bronze medals