Paris 2024 Olympics: Adekuoroye and Lawal begin the quest for medals
Team Nigeria medal hopeful at the ongoing Paris 2024 Olympic Games Odunayo Adekuoroye will begin her quest to put Nigeria on the medals table on Thursday.
Ranked number three in the world, Adekuoroye will face world no 13, Chaimaa Aouissi (Algeria) in the women’s 57kg wrestling Round of 16.
A three-time Commonwealth Games Champion she defeated Chaimaa Aouissi at the 2019 African Wrestling Championship in Tunisia where she retained her title five years ago.
Adekuoroye qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics following her bronze medal win at the 2023 World Wrestling Championships in Serbia defeating Turkey’s Elvira Kamaloglu in the third-place match while Aouissi secured her spot after winning the 2024 African & Oceania Olympic Games Qualifiers in Egypt.
Should Adekuoroye win her R16 encounter, she will face either Mongolia’s Khongorzul Boldsaikhan (world no 14) or China’s Kexin Hong (world no 6) in the quarterfinal bout.
Elsewhere, Nigeria’s Weightlifter, Rofiatu Lawal will begin the chase for medals in the Women’s 59 kg weight class at the South Paris Arena inside Paris Expo Complex on Thursday by 2 pm.
Lawal got the nod to represent Nigeria in Paris after she qualified having garnered the needed points in various Championships she attended and as she marked her Olympic debut she carries the aspirations and hope of other Nigerians who expect her to give a good account of herself in Paris.
Lawal a 27-year-old lifter is a two-time African Champion at the African Games in 2019 and 2023 in Morocco and Ghana.
The Commonwealth Games Champion will confront other 10 weightlifters from around the globe to compete for the Olympic Games medals at stake in the Women’s 59kg including reigning Olympic champion, 30-year-old Chinese Taipel’s Chun Hsing Kuo. Kuo also won a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
Shifang Luo of China who at just 23 years is the current World Record Holder in the weight class with a lift of 248kg is another strong competitor against the Nigerian. She’s making her Olympics debut and has come with so much promise while another 2021 Olympic Games Gold medallist in the Women’s 64kg, Charron Maude of Canada is another lifter to be on the lookout for.
Others to compete against Lawal are Ann Elreen Ando (Philippines), Anyelin Venegas (Venezuela), Lucrezia Magistris (Italy), Yenny Alvarez (Colombia), Mathlynn Sasser (Marshall Islands), Kamila Konotop (Ukraine), Dora Tchakoute (France), and Mexican’s Valdivia Gomez.
