Nigeria's male athletes have the potential to bring home gold medals

n n

Following the dominance of Nigeria’s female lifters in the para-powerlifting event at the 2026 Commonwealth Games, Riluwan Idris, who became the country’s first male gold medallist at the Games, has spoken about his determination to break the jinx.

n

Idris won gold in the men’s para-powerlifting event at the ongoing 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, on Friday night.

n

The 23-year-old finished ahead of England’s Matthew Harding and Malaysia’s Nicodemus Manggoi Moses, who claimed silver and bronze respectively.

n

“This is my first Commonwealth Games. I’ve competed at other international events before, but this is my first time participating here. Before coming, I made a promise to myself that I must become Nigeria’s first male gold medallist because a lot of people have been saying that the men cannot deliver gold medals. I wanted to prove them wrong, and I thank God today that the gold medal is mine.”

n

Idris secured victory with a successful lift of 208kg on his second attempt, becoming the only lifter in the competition to clear the 200kg mark. He had opened with a successful lift of 200kg and finished with 132.8 points to claim his maiden Commonwealth Games gold medal.

n

However, he narrowly missed his third attempt at 212kg, which would have equalled the Commonwealth Games record, and settled for the gold medal.

n

Idris also became Nigeria’s first male athlete to win gold at the ongoing Games, joining record-breaking Folashade Oluwafemiayo and Esther Nworgu on the top step of the podium as Nigeria reinforced its dominance in the para-powerlifting competition with three gold and three silver medals.

n

Nigeria won three of the four gold medals on offer in the para-powerlifting programme, improving on the two gold medals it secured at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

n n