Nigeria's team won six additional gold medals in the weightlifting event at the current African Games in Ghana on Tuesday. Ruth Ayodele and Joy Eze each secured three gold medals in the 64kg and 71kg categories.
Following Monday's routine, Edidiong Umoafia started with three gold medals, and the lifters then added Nigeria's total to 15 at the GCB Hall of the University Ghana.
Ayodele, competing in her first African Games, achieved three gold medals in the 64kg category by lifting 94kg in snatch, 114kg in clean & jerk, for a total of 208kg. Meanwhile, Eze,
Eze, in her second appearance at the Games, also earned three gold medals in the 71kg, lifting 90kg in snatch and 117kg in clean & jerk, totaling 207kg.
During Monday night, Folashade Lawal and Adijat Olarinoye also excelled, each winning three gold medals in the women's 55kg and 59kg categories, following Umoafia's earlier victories.
Altogether, the five athletes collected a total of 15 gold medals for Nigeria in the weightlifting event, increasing Nigeria's tally to 22 gold medals.
Despite having 16 golds at the start of Day 5 on Tuesday, the additional six gold medals still placed Team Nigeria second in the medals table, behind Egypt, who lead with 48 gold medals.
Meanwhile, Nigeria faces the 18th-ranked Uganda in the third-place match of the women's cricket event at the Games, at the Achimota Cricket Oval in Accra on Wednesday (today). This comes as the event's debut reaches an exciting climax.
The Female Yellow Greens were defeated by five wickets against Zimbabwe in the semi-finals. Uganda also faced a loss by 50 runs against South Africa, leading to the upcoming clash between the two teams.
With nine places separating Nigeria (27) and Uganda (18) in the T20 rankings, the Female Yellow Greens will not be discouraged by Victoria Pearls' credentials, having already triumphed over the higher-ranked Namibia during the group stages.
