World record holder Folasade Oluwafemiayo, Esther Nworgu and Riluwan Idris won gold medals for Nigeria on Day 1 of the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, as the country claimed six medals in para powerlifting, www.aclsports.com reports.
Folasade Oluwafemiayo successfully defended her Commonwealth Games title in the women’s heavyweight para powerlifting event at the SEC Armadillo on Friday. She opened with a 165kg lift to score 127.1 points and break the Commonwealth Games record before setting a new world record with a 172kg effort. With the gold medal already secured, Oluwafemiayo attempted 175kg with her final lift and successfully set another world record, finishing with 134.8 points.
Compatriot Rita Ferdinand completed a Nigerian one-two finish by winning silver and setting a new world record in the process. Ferdinand lifted 158kg to score 128.2 points, surpassing the previous world record of 154kg held by China’s Han Miaoyu.
Esther Nworgu had earlier won Nigeria’s first gold medal of the Games in the women’s lightweight para powerlifting event after setting two Commonwealth Games records. She opened with a successful 118kg lift to score 114.1 points before improving the mark to 119.0 points with a 123kg effort. Esther Oyema won silver for Nigeria after successfully lifting 125kg, while England’s Olivia Broome claimed bronze.
Riluwan Idris completed Nigeria’s gold-medal haul by winning the men’s heavyweight para powerlifting event. The Nigerian lifted 208kg to score 132.8 points, edging England’s Matthew Harding, who took silver with 131.0 points after lifting 199kg. Malaysia’s Nicodemus Moses claimed bronze.
Roland Ezuruike’s silver medal was Nigeria’s first medal of the Games. He finished with 153.9 points after two successful lifts in the men’s lightweight para powerlifting event, matching England’s Mark Swan on points. However, Swan took gold after Ezuruike failed to lift 190kg in his final attempt. The result marked Ezuruike’s second Commonwealth Games silver in Glasgow after his runner-up finish at the 2014 edition.
Nigeria also made a winning start in the men’s 3×3 basketball competition, defeating the Cayman Islands 21-17 in its opening game. Esosa Okundaye and Ikechukwu Nwamu led the scoring with six points apiece.
Nigeria began their 3×3 basketball campaign with a victory before suffering a 21-15 defeat to Australia in their second game. Nwamu was Nigeria’s top scorer with nine points, but Australia finished strongly to secure the victory. Nigeria then suffered a 21-10 defeat to New Zealand in their third and final game. They will next face either Guyana or Scotland, with the outcome of that game determining whether they progress to the semi-finals.
In boxing, Ayomide Foly Hassan’s campaign ended in the men’s 70kg Round of 32 after he lost 4-0 on points to Lesotho’s Refiloe Thai, who advanced to the next round.
Clinton Opute also competed in the men’s 200m individual medley in swimming. He finished sixth in his heat in 2:15.40 and did not advance to the next round.
Nigeria’s six medals, three gold and three silver, all came from para powerlifting, leaving the country second on the medal table after Day 1. Australia led the standings with 13 medals, including six gold, while Scotland were third with two gold medals.
England had one gold and four silver medals, with Canada and South Africa also in the top five after winning one gold medal each.
