July 31, (THEWILL) – Nigeria won its first medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, UK, on Saturday, as Adijat Adenike Olarinoye lifted a total of 203 kg in the women’s 55 kg weightlifting competition to claim the gold medal.
Olarinoye also broke two records in the women’s 55kg weightlifting Snatch category, lifting 90 and 92 kg in 10 minutes. She stood proudly shortly after, at the top of the podium, at Nigerian national anthem was played in her honour.
Bindrayani Sorokhaibam of India and Fraer Morrow of England finished second and third, respectively.
It was a moment of pride for Team Nigeria, whose participation at the Games got off to a rocky start due to a lack of jerseys that required the Nigerian Commonwealth Games squad to make an SOS call. Fortunately, a British sportswear maker responded quickly.
In order to prevent another embarrassing situation for the nation, a crew under the direction of Gino Ruffinato, manager of MG Sportswear, had to quickly produce 200 pieces of equipment, including running vests and shorts, staff tracksuits, and even 400 Nigerian badges. Ruffinato claimed that although there had been “panic stations,” his crew had risen to the occasion and succeeded.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
