Our Girls are leading Team Nigeria's media harvest at the Riyadh 2025 Islamic Games
Like in previous games and championships, Team Nigeria girls are leading the medal harvest at the ongoing Riyadh 2025 Islamic Games, whereas Our Boys are still struggling to find their feet.
In boxing, Nigeria’s Zainab Adeshina has booked her place in the final of the women’s 51kg boxing category after a hard-fought victory over Algeria’s Fatiha Mansouri on Sunday.
Competing at The Promenade – Art Tower venue, Adeshina triumphed 4–1 on points after three intense rounds, in a bout that showed her resilience under pressure.
The Nigerian, who represented the red corner, overturned a difficult start to secure the decision in her favour and reach Monday’s gold medal fight against Tunisia’s Rabia Topuz.
According to the official bout report, four of the five judges, representing Egypt, Iraq, Slovakia, and Australia, scored the fight in Adeshina’s favour. In contrast, only the Puerto Rican judge awarded the contest to Mansouri.
Despite losing the first two rounds on most scorecards, Adeshina mounted a strong comeback in the third round, landing several clean combinations that visibly unsettled her opponent.
Mansouri’s disciplinary issues compounded the turnaround, as the Algerian boxer received two warnings from referee Chang Yu-Ling of Taiwan, resulting in point deductions that ultimately swung the decision towards Adeshina.
Judge 5 from Australia scored all three rounds 10–9 for the Nigerian, awarding her a clean 30–27 total, while the other judges returned closer tallies of 28–27 in her favour.
Adeshina’s performance in the closing round proved decisive, with the 21-year-old showing superior footwork and control to dominate the exchanges.
Elsewhere, lifter Rafiatu Folashade Lawal stole the spotlight, delivering a stunning hat-trick of gold medals in the women’s 58kg category, lifting a combined 220kg to power Nigeria to its first victories of the Games.
Lawal’s dominance on the platform sent a clear message: Team Nigeria came to make history.
Not to be outdone, Edidiong Joseph Umoafia added more glitter to Nigeria’s medal tally, grabbing gold in the men’s 71kg snatch and bronze in clean and jerk after an electrifying performance that drew cheers from the Riyadh crowd.
With these early triumphs, Nigeria has already outperformed its previous editions at the Games, breaking barriers and lifting spirits back home.
Before now, Team Nigeria has won a total of 11 medals at the Islamic Solidarity Games.
★ 3 gold
★ 6 silver
★ 2 bronze
Their most successful Games were in 2017, where they won 6 medals. Nigeria has participated in every edition of the Games since 2005, and that placed them 24th on the all-time medal table.
The nation’s weightlifters have become the pride of Africa, standing tall among 22 countries that have so far made it onto the medal table.
While Türkiye leads overall with a blistering 36 medals in two days, Nigeria’s heroes are proving that quality can trump quantity, showcasing strength, determination, and world-class talent in every lift.
As the Solidarity Games heat up, all eyes are on Team Nigeria, whose athletes are rewriting history one medal at a time.
