Nigeria has now been guaranteed its first medal at the Tokyo Olympics following Blessing Oborududu’s qualification for the finals of the women’s freestyle 68kg games.
Africa Daily News, New York can confirm that Oborududu beat Mongolia’s Battsetseg Soronzonbold to reach the final.
Although the final match is yet to be played, she is now guaranteed either a gold or silver medal.
Oborududu is also set for the record books as Nigeria’s first-ever Olympics medalist in wrestling in the history of her participation at the Olympic games.
‘This is a real Blessing to Nigeria,’ the Minister of Sports Sunday Dare said, reacting to Oborududu’s feat.
‘Thank you Blessing for wiping away the pain of the near misses recorded in other events. Nigerians are proud of you. The display is typical of the never say die Nigerian spirit.
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‘Keep the tempo going until we reach the ultimate which is the gold. Don’t give up the fight until you re-write Nigerian Olympics history with a gold medal in the kitty.’
Nigerian athletes have struggled to make a mark at the Tokyo Olympics amid failed drug tests and injuries.
Earlier on Monday, medal hopeful Tobi Amusan had finished fourth in the women’s 100m hurdles final.
Oborududu, a 10-time African champion will now face top seed Tamyra Stock Mensah in Tuesday’s final, after the American World champion overpowered Ukraine’s Alla Cherkasova 10-4 in the first semi-final.
On her way to the final, Oborududu made light work of Elis Manolova in the round of 16, thrashing the Azerbaijani 13-2 via technical superiority, before securing a hard-fought 3-2 win against Meerim Zhumanazarova of Kyrgyzstan in the quarter-finals.
After a cagey opening moment in her semi-final bout against the 2015 World champion Soronzonbold, the energetic Oborududu burst into action, taking down the 31-year-old Mongolian thrice to eventually win the first round 7-0.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
