Team Nigeria has made an emphatic start to the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, with captain Folashade Oluwafemiayo leading from the front by winning gold and breaking her own world record in spectacular fashion.
The reigning world champion successfully defended her women’s heavyweight para-powerlifting title after lifting an astonishing 175kg, surpassing the world record she set at the 2025 World Para-Powerlifting Championships.
The 41-year-old accumulated 134.8 points to comfortably retain the Commonwealth title she first won at the Birmingham 2022 Games, underlining her status as one of the greatest para-powerlifters in the world.
Nigeria’s dominance in the event continued as Rita Ferdinand claimed the silver medal with a lift of 158kg, earning 128.2 points to finish ahead of Australia’s Hani Watson.
The medals kept flowing for Team Nigeria in the women’s lightweight category, where Esther Nworgu delivered another gold medal after setting a new Commonwealth Games record with 119 points.
Fellow Nigerian Esther Oyema completed an impressive one-two finish by securing silver with 115.5 points while England’s Olivia Broome settled for bronze.
Earlier, Roland Ezuruike came agonisingly close to another gold for Nigeria in the men’s lightweight para-powerlifting event but narrowly lost out to England’s Mark Swan on decimal points, settling for silver.
By the end of the opening day, Team Nigeria had amassed five medals, all from para-powerlifting signaling a strong start to its Glasgow campaign.
However, the country’s fortunes were mixed in other events.
In swimming, Clinton Opute finished sixth in the opening heat of the men’s 200m individual medley, missing out on progression.
Nigeria also suffered setbacks in boxing, where Ayomide Hassan and Abdulrahmon Abdulwahab both exited the competition after defeats in their respective bouts.
Despite those disappointments, Nigeria’s commanding performance in para-powerlifting has placed the nation firmly among the early medal contenders, with Oluwafemiayo’s record-breaking display providing the perfect inspiration for the rest of the contingent as the Games gather momentum.
