It was a special day for Team Nigeria on Wednesday at the ongoing 20th Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, as it clinched three gold medals to move up on the medals table to the eighth position with six gold, five silver and eight bronze medals.
Maryam Usman began the gold harvest for Nigeria when she triumphed in the women's Weightlifting +75kg.
Usman lifted 125kg in snatch, 155kg in clean and jerk and 280kg as her total lift to clinch the gold ahead of Ele Opeloge of Samoa who lifted 120kg in snatch, 151kg in clean and jerk and 271kg in total lift, as Tracey Lambrechs of Newzealand settled for the bronze medal when she lifted 101kg in snatch, 136kg in clean and jerk and 237kg as her total lift.
Odunayo Adekuoroye minutes later recorded another golden performance when she spent only 31 seconds to knock out Indian Lalita Lalita in the women's wrestling freestyle 53kg, while compatriot Aminat Adeniyi followed suit with her victory over another Indian opponent, Malik Sakshi, in the women's wrestling freestyle 58kg.
Another Nigerian wrestler, Amas Daniel clinched the men's bronze medal in the 61Kg freestyle alongside Sasha Madyarchyk of England.
Two Nigerian boxers also landed in the medal zone following their brilliant outings in their various categories.
Efetobor Apochi in the men's heavyweight boxing class outclassed Australain Jai Opetaia by a unanimous decision to move to the semi-final. Apochi had earlier in the Round of 16 stopped Krystian Borucki of Isle of Man by a technical knockout two minutes, 33 seconds into the first round.
Apochi joins compatriot, Efe Ajagba who had on Tuesday knocked out South Africa Paul Schafer in
round two of their super heavyweight bout. Both boxers will return to the ring for their semi-final bouts.
In athletics, Ese Brume advanced in the women's long jump when she placed fifth with a jump of 6.29 metres, while Blessing Okagbare also qualified for the semi-final of the 200m after she finished heat one with a time of 22.99 seconds.
Okagbare who won the 100m gold at the Games on Monday night with a time of 10.85 seconds dusted
Kineke Alexander who finished in 23.44 seconds and Shai-Anne Davis of Canada who returned in a time of 23.51 seconds to also qualify for the semi-final scheduled to hold on Thursday night. Also, another Nigerian athlete, Dominique Duncan placed third in the 200m heat six with a time of 23.89 seconds to also qualify for the semi-final.
However, some Nigerian athletes also had a poor run on Wednesday at the Games.
In heat two: Adeseye Ogunlewe finished fourth with a time of 21.11 seconds to crash out of the men's 200m as well as Obinna Metu who finished fourth in a time of 21.19 seconds.
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Caption: Blessing Okagbare celebrates after winning the 100m gold at the ongoing Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.
