It was a Gold rush for Team Nigeria on Thursday at the ANOCA ZONE III Games in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, after a dominant performance in both Weightlifting and Badminton saw Nigeria winning a total of 12 Gold medals, 1 silver and 1 bronze medal to round off its campaign at the regional competition.
In Weightlifting, it was a case of a Gold medal spree for the three Nigerian athletes who represented the country.
According to SA on Media, Office of the Director General, National Sports Commission, it all began with Emmanuel Inakedor, who is the current African Champion in the 71kg, as he wasted no time sweeping aside his opponents in the snatch event, clean and jerk event and the total event.
In the 79kg category, Ibrahim Rabiu, who also doubles as the team’s coach, also won the entire 3 Gold medals available in both the Snatch, Jerk and Total events.
In the 110kg, Adeyemi Vincent, who is also an African Champion, completed the hattrick Gold medal performance for Team Nigeria with his own 3 Gold medals in the three categories of Snatch, Clean and Jerk and Total events.
In Badminton, Team Nigeria continued from where it left off, by adding 3 more Gold medals, 1 silver and 1 bronze to the 2 Gold medals it won on Tuesday in the men’s and women’s double events.
Shehu Aliyu defeated Fano Dosh from the Benin Republic to win the men’s singles 2-0, while Joseph Abel claimed the bronze medal. In the Women’s singles event, it was an all-Nigeria final when Dorcas Adedokan defeated Deborah Ukeh to the Gold medal.
In the mixed doubles, Shehu Aliyu and Deborah Ukeh defeated host Burkina Faso in the semi-final before beating fellow country duo of Joseph Abel and Dorcas Adesokan to the Gold in the final.
Team Nigeria, however, finished Thursday’s event with a total of 12 Gold medals,1 silver and 1 bronze medal as a clear sign of its regional dominance.