Edidiong Umuofia has won Team Nigeria’s fourth gold medal at the ongoing 2026 Commonwealth Games (CWG) in Glasgow, Scotland.
The young weightlifter was the dominant contestant in the snatch, clean and jerk disciplines to earn a Games record of 319 points and win the men’s 71kg event in weightlifting.
Umuofia swept up an unmatched 174kg above his head in one singular motion in his second attempt to take the snatch subcategory before replicating an equally superior 172kg haul in the even more intense clean and jerk.
He ended ahead of John Tafi of Samoa, who won silver, and Ezekiel Moses of Nauru who claimed bronze.
The triumph of Umuofia is Nigeria’s second medal in the weightlifting event after Ruth Nyong won a silver medal in the women’s 48kg category on Sunday.
The victory has taken the medal tally of Nigeria in Glasgow to eight, four gold and an equal number of silver. The previous six medals were from para-powerlifting.
Team Nigeria has also been in action in other sports on the fourth day of sporting activities at the 2026 CWG.
Favour Ashe won his heat in the preliminary round of the men’s 100m race, while Nicolas Fakorede finished second in his own heat. Both athletes qualified for the semi-final of the event, which will be held on Tuesday. They will join Kayinsola Ajayi, who was granted automatic qualification to the semi-final after entering the competition as one of the top contenders.
