Nigeria opens African Wrestling Championships with four gold medals
Team Nigeria produced a stunning performance on the opening day of the 2026 African Senior Wrestling Championships in Egypt with four gold medals on Friday.
Nigeria won four gold medals out of five available with hosts Egypt winning the other to cap off an impressive outing.
The quartet of Ogunsanya Christianah, Jumoke Adekoye, Esther Kolawole and Hannah Ojo made the country proud with scintillating performances.
Ogunsanya Christianah won Nigeria’s first gold at the Championship, beating Nogona BAKAYOKO of Ivory Coast 7-1 in the 53kg.
Reigning African champion Esther Kolawole in the 62kg category defeated Katelyn SWAN of South Africa 10-0 superiority to record a fifth African title.
Jumoke Adekoye defeated Achouak TEKOUK of Algeria 8-4 in the 57kg.
Read Also: Fury eyes one more fight before long-awaited bout with Joshua
Hannah Ojo also added her name to the list of gold medal winners with a 3-1 victory over Pelagie WILITA of Cameroon in the 73kg category.
In a related development, Hannah Reuben also added a silver medal to Nigeria’s medal haul with a 6-0 win over Kawiyatou ISSIFOU.
Nigeria only failed to win a gold medal in the 68kg category with Egypt’s Sabah Khamis beating defending champion Hannah Reuben in their round-robin bout.
Reuben has now won eight African Championships medals with three gold and five silver honours.
Team Nigeria’s impressive performance drew praises from the President of the Nigeria Wrestling Federation, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi MFR.
Adeniyi also dedicated the medals to First Lady of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu for her role in motivating young women all over the country to dream and achievement their dreams.
He said: “It’s a great time to be in Alexandria, five times the National anthem were played and Nigeria’s Anthem was played four out of the five times.
“We feel very proud to be flying the flag of Nigeria very very high. I say congratulations to the girls who have done us proud.
“I must say congratulations to Her Excellency, First Lady of Nigeria, Remi Tinubu for the inspiration she has given to the Nigerian women to excel in whatever they do. These women are the ones who have chosen sports as an avenue for that transformation. I want to also congratulate all nigerians for this feat”.
Action resumes in the championships on Saturday with the men’s team participating in the freestyle category, and a continuation of the women wrestling.
