Odunayo Adekuroye of Nigeria has won gold in the women’s 57kg freestyle wrestling event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games to retain the title she won four years ago in Gold Coast Australia.
Adekuroye defeated India’s Anshu Malik 7-3 on Friday in Birmingham to help Nigeria to its first gold medal in wrestling.
Earlier in the day, World record holder Tobi Amusan who admitted that she is “exhausted” after winning world 100m hurdles gold last month but the Nigerian hurdler looked impressive on Friday as she cruised through to the Commonwealth Games final.
Amusan began the defence of her crown by finishing top of the qualifying times in 12.40sec, in windy conditions.
“The mental part is there and the physical part is also done,” said Amusan. “But I’ve been so exhausted after those championships.
“I’m just trying to hang in there and finish the season strong.”
The 25-year-old Nigerian, who sported the logo “No Plastic Waste” on her tracksuit — is the favourite but are a clutch of rivals who could trouble her.
Olympic bronze medallist Megan Tapper progressed serenely, winning her heat in 12.68sec.
The other two potential challengers, England’s Cindy Sember and Jamaica’s Danielle Williams, are attempting to reboot their careers.
Sember, who has failed to build on her fourth-place finish in the 2016 Olympic final in Rio, looked more like her former self as she cruised through her heat in 12.67sec.
She showed a clean pair of heels to 29-year-old Williams, who won the 2015 world title.
Amusan began the 2022 season in fine form, winning the 2022 Diamond League event in Paris, where she set an African record by 0.01s with a time of 12.41s.
She followed that up with another great performance when she won the gold medal in the 100m hurdles at the 2022 African Championships in Mauritius, defending her title successfully with a time of 12.57s. She also competed in the women’s 4×100m and won gold.
Meanwhile, Ese Brume and Ruth Usoro have sealed a place in the final of the Long Jump event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Brume hit the automatic qualification mark, leaping a distance of 6.81m (+0.3) on her second attempt.
Usoro also booked her spot in the final, jumping a mark of 6.59m to finish joint 7th overall.
The final of the event will take place on Sunday.
