Commonwealth champion Blessing Oborududu on Monday made history as the first Nigerian to reach the final of a wrestling event at the Olympics, after recording an impressive 7-2 victory against London 2012 Olympics bronze medallist Battsetseg Soronzonbold of Mongolia in a semi-final clash. Her qualification guarantees Team Nigeria a silver or gold medal in Tokyo Olympics The impressive Nigerian, a 10-time African champion will face Americas’ Tamyra Mensah-Stock in Tuesday’s 68kg women’s freestyle final, after the World champion overpowered Ukraine’s Alla Cherkasova 10-4 in the first semi-final. Oborodudu won a gold medal at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games in the 68kg women’s freestyle wrestling event, defeating Canada’s Danielle Lappage, and she is optimistic she will achieve a similar feat in Tokyo.
Reacting to the exhilarating news, the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Dare, described Oduduru as a blessing to Nigeria.
He said, “This is a real Blessing to Nigeria. 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. 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.”
