Meet seven Nigerians who won medals at the Paralympics

Seven Nigerians won medals at the Paralympics Games which ended on Sunday, coming home from Paris with two gold, three silver, and two bronze medals.

Nigeria made its debut at the Paralympic Games in the 1992 Summer Paralympics in Barcelona winning a total of 80 medals as of 2020.

Here are the seven Nigerians who won medals at this year’s Paralympic Games:

Folashade Oluwafemiayo

Folashade Oluwafemiayo, a para-powerlifter, won a gold medal, shattering two world records in the process.

Her 167kg lift broke her previous world record in the women’s 86kg para-powerlifting category and made her the first para-athlete in history to achieve such a feat.

The Jos-born athlete, won a silver medal in the women’s 75kg category at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, breaking the world record at the time. She also won a gold medal at the 2017 World Para Powerlifting Championships in Mexico.

In 2021, she won the gold medal in her event at the 2021 World Para Powerlifting Championships held in Tbilisi, Georgia setting a world record of 152.5 kg. In 2022, she won a gold medal in the heavyweight event at the Commonwealth Games where she won.

Read also: Nigerian para-powerlifter Oluwafemiayo breaks world record at 2024 Paralympics

Flora Ugwunwa

Flora Ugwunwa secured a silver medal in the women’s javelin F54 event, throwing a 19.26 metres distance in Paris.

The 40-year-old athlete represented Nigeria at the 2016 Summer Paralympics held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where she won the gold medal in the women’s javelin throw F54 event and set a world record of 20.25m at this event.

In 2020, she represented Nigeria at the Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan after winning the silver medal in the women’s javelin throw F54 event at the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Onyinyechi Mark

Onyinyechi Mark made her debut at the 2024 Summer Paralympic Games, winning a gold medal in the para-powerlifting 61kg event, with a lift of 150kg.

In 2021, she won the silver medal in her event at the 2021 World Para Powerlifting Championships held in Tbilisi, Georgia. She also won the gold medal at the 2023 World Para Powerlifting Championships held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Eniola Bolaji

Eniola Bolaji is the first African to win a medal in badminton at the Olympic or Paralympic Games, achieving a bronze medal.

She started playing in 2018 and is ranked 3rd in the world in the Sl3 Category by the Para World Badminton Federation.

Bose Omolayo

Bose Omolayo also secured a silver medal in the 79kg Para-powerlifting category at the 2024 Summer Paralympics.

In 2020, she won the gold medal in the women’s 79kg event at the 2020 Summer Paralympics held in Tokyo, Japan.

A few months later, she won the gold medal in her event at the 2021 World Para Powerlifting Championships held in Tbilisi, Georgia, where she set a world record of 144 kg.

She competed twice at the Commonwealth Games where she won a silver medal in the women’s +61kg event in 2014 and a silver medal in the women’s heavyweight event in 2022.

Esther Nworgu

Esther Nworgu added a silver medal for Nigeria, in the women’s 49kg Para-powerlifting event at the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris.

Isau Ogunkunle

Isau Ogunkunle won a bronze medal in tennis at the 2024 Summer Paralympics.

In 2022, he won a bronze medal in the Commonwealth Games Table Tennis Men’s single classes C3-5.