Nigeria’s athletes produced a memorable outing at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, with Goodness Nwachukwu smashing her own world record to win gold, Chukwuebuka Enekwechi making history in the men’s shot put, and Tobi Amusan battling injury to secure a bronze medal in the women’s 100m hurdles.
Nwachukwu delivered one of the standout performances of the Games in the women’s F42 discus throw, setting a new world record of 39.66 metres on her final attempt to successfully defend her Commonwealth title.
The 27-year-old para-athlete, who first made headlines at Birmingham 2022 by breaking the world record twice, surpassed her previous mark by more than three metres to claim her fourth world record and another gold medal for Nigeria.
She led the competition from the outset, finishing ahead of Wales’ Funmi Oduwaiye, who took silver with a throw of 38.52 metres, while Bree Cronin claimed bronze with 36.00 metres.
An emotional Nwachukwu struggled to contain her excitement after the victory.
“I feel like I am on top of the world. I feel so great. I feel so wow, I was like, ‘Ah, what?’ and I started shouting,” she said.
Sending a message to supporters back home, she added: “I love you all and I can’t wait to see you. Love you.”
Nigeria’s celebrations continued in the field events as Enekwechi became the first Nigerian athlete to win Commonwealth Games gold in the men’s shot put.
The African record holder produced a winning throw of 21.07 metres at Scotstoun Stadium to upgrade the silver medal he won at the 2018 Games and erase the disappointment of finishing fourth at Birmingham 2022.
The 33-year-old secured victory with his penultimate throw, overtaking defending champion Tom Walsh of New Zealand, who had led the competition with an opening effort of 21.03 metres. Walsh settled for silver, while England’s Scott Lincoln claimed bronze with a throw of 20.99 metres.
Enekwechi’s triumph further underlined his status as one of Nigeria’s most consistent athletics stars. The five-time African champion has dominated the continent for much of the past decade and remains the holder of the African shot put record.
While Nwachukwu and Enekwechi celebrated historic victories, Nigeria’s sprint hurdles queen, Tobi Amusan, showed remarkable determination to extend her Commonwealth Games medal streak despite injury concerns.
The world record holder clocked 12.60 seconds to finish third in the women’s 100m hurdles, securing a third consecutive Commonwealth Games podium finish.
The result, however, fell short of Amusan’s bid for a third straight Commonwealth title, with the 29-year-old revealing afterwards that she had been hampered by a knee injury sustained during Team Nigeria’s training camp in Aberdeen.
Together, the performances of Nwachukwu, Enekwechi and Amusan highlighted Nigeria’s strength on the athletics stage, with the trio delivering medals, records and history for Team Nigeria at Glasgow 2026.
