Tokyo 2020 Olympics silver medalist, Blessing Oborududu, has called time on her illustrious wrestling career after 19 years of active bout on the mat, www.aclsports.com reports.
The 14-time African champion, who is also the first Nigerian to win an Olympic medal in wrestling, is bowing out after winning a gold medal for Bayelsa State in her final bout at the 22nd National Sports Festival in Ogun State.
It was an emotional event, as the 36-year-old received farewell messages from national teammates with pleasant standing ovation from fans, officials, and wrestling stakeholders as well.
An emotional Blessing Oborududu in her farewell speech said: “I want to thank everyone who has been part of my journey, the Nigeria Wrestling Federation led by Daniel Igali and the board members, my teammates, and family.
“After the Olympics, I thought of retiring, but the President suggested I retire officially at the National Sports Festival in Abeokuta where I made my first appearance as a young wrestler back in 2006.”
“I created a lot of memories, but my most memorable one was the Tokyo Olympics, which ignited hope across Africa because it was the first ever medal from an African woman in wrestling at the Olympics, and I hope more will come for our future wrestlers,” Oborududu concluded.
In his own goodwill remark, President of the Nigeria Wrestling Federation, Honourable Daniel Igali described Oborududu as an exceptional athlete and absolute professional.
“The type of Blessing is not easy to come by, and not easy to replace. I get questions like how are you going to replace Blessing, the thing is you can’t replace Blessing, you might have another athlete, but not Blessing.
“That’s why I say bitter-sweet because the selfish part of you wants athlete like this to compete forever because for you is not just to have any athlete that does well, but one who has that mindset, discipline, pureness for the sport and most of these wrestlers you see stay with her in her house and she takes care of them as a duty. She is like a big sister to them, and that only for me is more than being a champion on the mat,” Igali stated.
In addition, Hannah Reuben, who led the tribute of teammates, acknowledged Oborududu’s dedication, achievements, and impact.
Apart from being a mutiple African champion and an Olympic medalist, Oborududu also won two gold medals at the Commonwealth Games in 2018 and 2022.
