Powerlifter Bose Omolayo on Saturday added to Team Nigeria’s medals haul by winning the silver medal in the women’s 79 kilogrammes event of the Paralympic Games in Paris, France. Omolayo lifted 145kg to place second behind China’s Han Miaoyu who lifted 154kg to win the gold medal and set a new world record.
Omolayo was the Paralympic champion, having won the gold medal in the event at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, while Han is the current world champion. She placed ahead of Safaa Hassan of Egypt who lifted 139kg to finish third and win the event’s bronze medal. Omolayo’s victory thus took Nigeria’s total medals haul so far at the Games to six, made up of one gold three silver and two bronze medals.
Ugwunwa wins javelin’s silver to give Team Nigeria fifth medal
Team Nigeria on Saturday in Paris at the 2024 Paralympic Games added a silver medal to its haul, after Flora Ugwunwa won in the women’s javelin throw event. Ugwunwa, who competed in the women’s F54 category of the athletics event, achieved a throw of 19.26 metres to finish second in the competition. The winning throw was her second in the competition’s final, with her first being 18.00m. Her third was 18.24m, with the fourth, fifth and sixth being 18.68m, 18.40m and 17.50m respectively.
Uzbekistan’s Nurkhon Kurbanova won the event’s gold medal with a world record-setting throw of 21.12m as her best in the mandatory six throws. Kurbanova, who had earlier won the bronze medal in women’s shot put F54, never gave her competitors a chance. She had throws of 20.07, 21.02, 20.27, 21.02 and 20.98 in her first, second, third, fourth and sixth throws respectively, with the world record-setting 21.12 in the fifth throw.
Ugwunwa’s win has now made it one gold, two silver and two bronze medals so far to place Team Nigeria in the 52nd position at the Games. The Games comes to an end on Sunday.