C’Wealth Games: Nigeria chase record-breaking outing in Scotland
File: World record holder Tobi Amusan.
Seventy-twoNigerian athletes will compete across 10 sports at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, which formally get underway today, with the National Sports Commission targeting a record 20 gold medals, a tally that would surpass the country’s previous best of 12 achieved at Birmingham 2022.
Team Nigeria completed its build-up with a three-week high-performance training camp in Aberdeen, Scotland, before the first batch of athletes and officials departed for Glasgow earlier in the week, with a second batch moving into the Games Village on Friday to join teammates already on ground, with the official opening ceremony scheduled for Friday.
Nigeria’s campaign begins with its para powerlifting team, a discipline that has consistently delivered medals for the country at major championships. Team captain Folashade Oluwafemiayo, the reigning Commonwealth champion, a two-time Paralympic gold medallist, a four-time world champion and a multiple world record holder, will aim to defend the title she won in Birmingham. She will be joined by reigning world champion Rita Ferdinand, who arrives in fine form having equalled the women’s world record with a lift of 154 kilogrammes at the African Open Championships in Oran, Algeria, while also setting a new African record in the women’s up to seventy-nine kilogrammes category.
On the track, Nigeria’s hopes rest heavily on world record holder Tobi Amusan and sprint sensation Kayinsola Ajayi, who has emerged as one of the world’s fastest men this season.
Amusan returns to the Commonwealth Games seeking an unprecedented third consecutive women’s 100m hurdles title, having won gold in 2018 and 2022. The 29-year-old has rediscovered her best form this year, winning Diamond League meetings in Rabat and Paris, clocking a season’s best of 12.28 seconds on three occasions, defending her African title in Ghana, and securing qualification for the season-ending Diamond League final in Brussels, Belgium.
For Ajayi, The Auburn University star arrives in Glasgow after winning both the NCAA Indoor 60 metres and NCAA Outdoor 100 metres titles and equalling the Nigerian men’s 100m national record of 9.84 seconds for the third time this season, most recently with victory at the London Diamond League, where he defeated reigning world champion Oblique Seville, a feat he had also achieved earlier at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene.
However, Nigeria’s preparations suffered a setback with the withdrawal through injury of long jump star Ese Brume, ending her bid to defend the title she won at the previous Games with a Games record leap of 7.00m. Ruth Usoro has been drafted into the squad in her place and will compete alongside Prestina Ochonogor in the women’s long jump.
In the field events, African record holder Chukwuebuka Enekwechi will spearhead Nigeria’s challenge in the men’s shot put.
The two-time African champion, who holds the continental record with a throw of 22.10m, is regarded as one of the country’s leading medal contenders.
Nigeria’s boxing campaign, meanwhile, will be led by Patricia Mbata, a British-born middleweight who switched allegiance to Nigeria before winning gold at the African Games and earning her place in the squad by defeating reigning national champion Blessing Orakwe at the selection trials. Mbata will be making her Commonwealth Games debut.
The National Sports Commission, under chairman Mallam Shehu Dikko and director general Bukola Olopade, has introduced an enhanced athlete welfare package for the Games, including increased camping allowances, improved travel support and bigger performance bonuses, with gold medallists standing to earn up to $8,000 in combined rewards.
Every athlete and official was also given N500,000 in travel support, alongside significantly enhanced camping allowances both locally and overseas.
Olopade charged the team to justify the investment as the first batch boarded a bus for Glasgow, telling the athletes that much had been given to them and much was therefore expected, and urging them to repay the country’s investment in their preparations with podium finishes. Sprinter Favour Ashe, who recently won the men’s 100m in 10.06sec at the BFTAA Open in Lee Valley, England, ahead of Great Britain’s Nicholas Walsh (10.11sec) and Ade Adewale (10.19sec), praised the Commission for the quality of the Aberdeen camp and confirmed that camp allowances had been paid in full, a sentiment echoed by former World and Olympic wrestling champion Daniel Igali in an earlier interview.
Nigeria made its Commonwealth Games debut in Auckland in 1950, winning a single silver medal through high jumper Joshua Majekodunmi, and has since grown into one of the competition’s most respected sporting nations, with a haul of 271 medals comprising 82 gold, 84 silver and 105 bronze. The Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games run from July 23 to August 2, featuring about three thousand athletes from 74 Commonwealth Games Associations competing for 215 gold medals across eleven sports, with Scotland hosting the Games for a fourth time.
Peter, who has been covering sports for PUNCH for close to two years, focuses on combat sports reporting, special features and human angle stories
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