Women

Commonwealth Games 2022: These 6 Nigerian women including a mechanical engineer have crushed it in Birmingham

While Black women win every day, it’s not every day they all have a common ancestry. On the African continent, Nigeria is lifting the continent’s name high while proving that Black women from anywhere can do it all. 

The Commonwealth Games 2022 is being hosted in Birmingham for sports games across various disciplines. While it is ongoing, Nigeria, a country in West Africa is already proving that its green and white colored flag has come to stay in the game. 

These six women have made a name for themselves and their country at large while beating all the odds. 

Chioma Onyekwere 

On August 2, Onyekwere was crowned the Discus champion as she threw the season’s best of 61.70m to take the win, making her the first Nigerian to win in that category. More exciting is she trained to compete at this level while working full-time as a PD engineer at a Fortune 500 company. 

She worked as an Exterior Lighting Design and Release Engineer at Ford Motor Company while still training to become an Olympian. 

Onyekwere chased the dream of being an Olympian for five years and finally on July 1, 2022, she became one. She took to social media and described the journey as “grueling, but taught me discipline, tenacity and to never give up on my dreams.” 

While many can attest to how tedious it is to be a successful Olympian, Onyekwere can now wear her championship cloak atop her engineering cloak. The 28-year-old becomes the second African female to win Gold after South Africa’s Elizna Naude. She was followed closely by her compatriot, Obiageri Amaechi who won the bronze medal with a throw of 59.99m. 

Weightlifting

Adijat Olarinoye opened the gateway of gold medals for her fellow Nigerian women in Birmingham when she won gold in the women’s 55kg Weightlifting event at the Commonwealth Games. She set a new record of 203kg to win in that category. Adijat broke two Game Records in the Snatch category in a space of 10 minutes lifting 90kg and 92kg. 

Her technical crew made a decision that could have cost her, her gold medal but she persevered and became the only athlete in the game to lift weight over 90kg. 

Adijat lifted 92kg for the snatch category, 111kg for the clean and jerk making a total of 203kg in total. 

In another session of weightlifting, Rafiatu Lawal lifting 90kg for the snatch category and 119kg for the clean and jerk category set three records at the Commonwealth Games for the women’s 59kg final. 

Right behind her was Folashade Lawal who also won gold with a record of 206kg in the women’s 59kg category. 

Then in the Women’s 64kg event, Islamiyat Yusuf won bronze with 93kg for snatch and 119kg for clean and jerk. 

Still in the Women’s weightlifting, Taiwo Laidi took the silver medal for the women’s 76kg category. She had a total lift of 216 for both the snatch and jerk category. 

These six women have proven that they were made for the weightlifts and the discus and their names have come to stay. The Commonwealth Games 2022 is still ongoing and Nigeria so far seems unstoppable. 

Vanessa Calys-Tagoe

Recent Posts

Motown’s Martha Reeves finally gets star on Hollywood Walk of Fame after she had to crowdfund for it

The renowned Grammy and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, Martha Reeves, earned her place…

9 hours ago

Tragedy in South Africa as vehicle carrying Easter worshippers falls off bridge, 45 dead

The Easter weekend didn’t start well for some worshippers who have been reported dead in…

10 hours ago

Gladys Muhammad, the woman who has played Harriet Tubman several times to keep her legacy alive

Gladys Muhammad, an Indiana native, is working hard to preserve Harriet Tubman's legacy. Following her…

12 hours ago

Liquor store clerk shocked she sold $1.13B Mega Millions ticket without knowing identity of purchaser

TiYahna Bambaata, a clerk at a New Jersey liquor store, sold the $1.13 billion Mega…

13 hours ago

Meet Safro Fades, the barber who uses hammers, knives and made history winning a ‘Barber Grammy’

Martin "Safro Fades" Safari is not a barber who follows the conventional rules of the…

15 hours ago

After being slammed for bragging about being rich, rapper Latto sends fan $2K for rent money

Latto has once again won the hearts of her followers after making a generous donation…

16 hours ago

Man accused of fatally stabbing Walmart worker allegedly gave all African Americans at store ‘dirty looks’

Authorities in Illinois have arrested and charged a man in connection with the fatal stabbing…

17 hours ago

Diddy no longer owner of Revolt TV as new mystery owner takes over: report

Almost a decade ago, Sean "P Diddy" Combs launched a cable music channel called Revolt…

17 hours ago

Krystal Anderson: Longtime Kansas City Chiefs cheerleader dies after stillbirth

Krystal Lakeshia Anderson, a longtime cheerleader for the Kansas City Chiefs and a women’s health…

18 hours ago

Owners of bowling alley where Takeoff was shot blame rapper for his death in response to lawsuit

The owners of the bowling alley where Takeoff was fatally shot are asking a judge…

18 hours ago

How Crawford-Williams started a movement in her apartment that now supports hundreds of small businesses in Detroit

Get to know Jennyfer Crawford-Williams; she is behind All Things Detroit Day, an annual event…

1 day ago

Two friends treat South African security guard to once in a lifetime helicopter ride over the rainbow nation

Two friends in their 20s made a heartwarming gesture to their apartment's security guard after…

1 day ago

From errand-runner to multi-business owner, meet 2024 Enterprising Woman of the Year Roslyn Ellerbee

Roslyn Ellerbee, the CEO and founder of Dream Team Digital Marketing, Manifesting Greatness with Roslyn…

1 day ago

Kevin Hart loses big after selling his Bored Ape NFT, raises concerns over future of NFTs

In 2022, American actor and comedian Kevin Hart joined a growing list of celebrities who…

2 days ago

Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley makes history again with national coach of the year win

The U.S. Basketball Writers Association has picked South Carolina women's basketball head coach Dawn Staley…

2 days ago