Nigeria Win Two Bronze Medals as Ajayi Ends 20-Year Drought

Team Nigeria secured two bronze medals on another eventful day yesterday at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, with standout performances in athletics, while athletes also competed in swimming, weightlifting and boxing. 

Kayinsola Ajayi etched his name into the history books by becoming the first Nigerian man in two decades to win a Commonwealth Games medal in the 100m. Ajayi claimed bronze, ending the country’s wait since Olusoji Fasuba won silver at the 2006 Games in Melbourne. Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme stormed to gold in a Games record time of 9.83 seconds.

Nigeria’s second medal came courtesy of Temitope Adeshina, who cleared 1.90m to win bronze in the women’s high jump. The podium finish marked a remarkable improvement for Adeshina, who finished 10th on her Commonwealth Games debut four years ago.

In the women’s hammer throw, Sade Olatoye placed eighth with a best effort of 63.27m, while Canada’s Camryn Rogers clinched gold with a Commonwealth Games record throw of 74.91m.

Miracle Ezechukwu also impressed despite narrowly missing out on the women’s 100m final. Competing in rainy conditions, the Commonwealth Games debutant finished fourth in her semifinal in 11.23 seconds.

Favour Ashe and Nicholas Fakorede also fell short of the men’s 100m final. Ashe finished fifth in his semifinal in 10.07 seconds, while Fakorede clocked 10.06 seconds to place fourth in his race.

It was a disappointing outing for Rosemary Chukwuma, whose women’s 100m semifinal ended in heartbreak after she appeared to sustain an injury midway through the race. Despite crossing the line in 11.82 seconds, she limped off the track afterwards.

Nigeria’s sprint campaign suffered another setback before the semifinals when Blessing Ogundiran was unable to start her scheduled women’s 100m semifinal race.

The 400m events, however, provided more reasons for optimism. Edidiong Udo enjoyed a dream international debut by winning his opening-round men’s 400m heat in 45.73 seconds, finishing comfortably ahead of the field to book a semifinal berth.

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In the women’s 400m, Patience Okon-George advanced automatically after placing fourth in her heat in 53.27 seconds, while Esther Elo Joseph secured her place in the semifinals with a third-place finish in 52.82 seconds, marking her first appearance in a Commonwealth Games 400m semifinal.

Nigeria also enjoyed success in the swimming pool as Abduljabar Adama and Colins Ebingha both qualified for the men’s 50m butterfly semifinals. Adama finished fourth in his heat in 23.99 seconds, while Ebingha was fifth in 24.01 seconds.

In weightlifting, Ruth Imoleayo Ayodele finished seventh in the women’s 63kg category with a combined total of 193kg, lifting 88kg in the snatch and 105kg in the clean and jerk.

Meanwhile, Patricia Mbata bowed out of the women’s 75kg boxing competition after suffering a narrow 3-2 split-decision defeat to England’s Mary Kate Smith in the quarter-finals, falling just short of a place in the last four.