The 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris came to an end on Sunday with Nigerian athletes winning seven medals and breaking World Records along the way.

Nigeria placed its hopes once again in the hands of paralympic athletes as the 2024 Paralympics kicked off in late August, against the backdrop of a disappointing Olympic Games outing.

Since the 1992 Barcelona Paralympics, Nigerian athletes have won medals at all nine editions.

In Nigeria’s earlier sad Olympics, countries like Germany and the United States of America produced medal-winning athletes of Nigerian descent, generating a backlash against the Nigeria Athletics Federation (AFN) and the Nigeria Olympics Committee (NOC)’s apparent talent mismanagement.

Standout controversies included the incident with Favour Ofili, for instance. The athelete had accused the AFN and the NOC of ruining her chances to compete in two separate events due to neglience.

There was also Ese lovina Ukpeseraye, the Nigerian cyclist, who had to participate in the event with a borrowed bicycle. It was against this backdrop of underperformance that Nigeria’s para-atheletes left for France to compete.

One could assume, naturally, that in 2024 the path to glory was tougher than ever. But with seven medals in total, and 40th place on the medals table, the Paralympics brought hope and relief when the Olympic athletes fell short.

EQ looks at the standout athletes in the 2024 competition, the events they won and the circumstances surrounding the wins

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BOSE OMOLAYO: THIRD TIME IS A CHARM

Despite suffering on-pitch and off-pitch challenges, Nigeria’s Bose Omolayo secured another podium finish for the third paralympics in a row, winning a silver medal in Paris.

Omolayo, who had won gold in 2016 and 2020 Paralympics consecutively, had suffered a right hand arm injury during the competition.

With a 149kg record, Omolayo had lifted her way into a silver place ahead of Egypt’s Safaa Hassan who claimed bronze with a 139kg lift. Omolayo came second after China’s Han Miayou set a new world record in the same event, with a 154kg lift, to take gold.

Omolayo had in the past been vocal about the suffering and discrimination against para-athletes in Nigeria.

In a 2021 Punch interview for instance, she had called out Sunday Dare, then Nigerian Minister for Youths and Sports, for failing to fulfil the promises made to her and her colleagues after the success recorded in Tokyo in 2020.

ISAAC OGUNKUNLE: TO PERSEVERE IS TO WIN

Isaac Ogunkunle, the Ogun-born para-athlete, won a bronze medal at the men’s class 4 table tennis event of the Paris 2024 Paralympis game. Beyond the win, there are certain peculiarities to his story.

Ogunkunle had faced and beaten notable para-athletes, including reigning paralympic champion Abdullah Ozturk of Turkey in the Round of 16 and Maxime Thomas, France’s Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist, in the quarterfinals.

Ogunkunle’s story reflects a consistent improvement of skills. The athelete had in the past two encounters lost to France’s Thomas in Tokyo 2020 and at the Italian Open in 2022. He had only managed to reach the the quarterfinals of the singles class 4 event in Tokyo 2020.

Ogunkunle lost in the semifinals to Kim Young-Gun, the silver medalist from Tokyo 2020, in a tough 3-1 match.

ESTHER NWORGU BROKE THE WORLD RECORD

Esther Nworgu stood out among the para-powerlifters at the Paris 2024 paralympics with a world record and a silver medal in the bag. Competing in the women’s 41kg+ Para-Powerlifting category, Nworgu broke two paralympic records, lifting an incredible 112kg and later lifting 118kg.

However, she was narrowly beaten by China’s Zhe Cui, who set a new record of 119kg, leaving Nworgu to claim the silver. Brazil’s Lara de Lima won bronze with a 109kg lift.

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FLORA UGWUNWA: 3-TIME JAVELIN THROW MEDALIST

Like Omolayo, Flora Ugwunwa has cemented her place as one of Nigeria’s most celeberated para-athletes. Ugwunwa competed in the F54 category, which included seated para-athletes with spinal cord injuries, where she secured a silver medal.

Ugwunwa’s heroics began in Rio 2016, where she clinched a gold medal with a record-breaking throw. She successfully defended her title at the Tokyo 2020 Games, further cementing her dominance in the event.

At the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, the 40-year-old won a silver medal with a throw of 19.26 metres, narrowly missing out on gold to Uzbekistan’s Nurkhon Kurbanova, who set a new world record with a throw of 21.12 metres.

ENIOLA BOLAJI THE 19-YEAR-OLD HISTORY MAKER

Nigerian para-badminton player Eniola Bolaji made history by becoming the first African to win a medal at an olympics or paralympics badminton event.

Bolaji, a 19-year-old para-athlete with lower limb impairment, defeated Oksana Kozyna, her Ukrainian opponent, in straight sets to clinch Nigeria’s first medal in the competition.

Kozyna had once beaten Bolaji in the group stages match-up. Bolaji had also lost narrowly to China’s Zuxian Xiao in the semi-finals of the event.

Born in Ibadan and raised in Ilorin, she started as a tennis player before transitioning to para-badminton after Bello Oyebanji, her late coach, encouraged her. In her victory speech, Bolaji dedicated the medal to Oyebanji who tragically passed away in an accident.

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ONYINYECHI MARK: 23-YEAR-OLD RECORD-SETTING SENSATION

Onyinyechi Mark, the 23-year-old two-time medalist, delivered another gold medal to Nigeria at the Paris 2024 Para-powerlifting event. Mark made history by setting multiple records and securing the country’s first gold medal of the Paralympics.

She lifted 147kg to initially break her own world record, before topping it with an astonishing 150kg lift just 10 minutes after. Her victory was absolute, leaving her competitors, including China’s Cui Jianjin (who lifted 140kg to claim silver), far behind.

In the past, Mark had won a silver medal at the 2021 World Para-Powerlifting championship in Georgia. In 2023, she won gold at the same competition which held in Dubai.

Mark was once disqualified in the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, alongside Latifat Tijani in the lightweight category, over ‘non-compliance with technical rules’.

FOLASHADE OLUWAFEMIAYO: CAPTAIN NIGERIA WITH TWO WORLD RECORDS

Captain Nigeria does it again.

Folashade Oluwafemiayo, the captain of Nigeria’s Para-athletes, broke two world records at the Paris 2024 Paralympics powerlifting events on Sunday, with a history-making lift of 167kg.

Chinese and Egyptian rivals trailed behind the 39-year-old did at 155kg and 147kg respectively.

Oluwafemiayo had first gained international recognition by winning a silver medal at the 2012 London Paralympics. Her crowning achievement came at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, where she secured a gold medal in the women’s 86kg+ category, setting a world record with a 151kg lift.

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In the 2024 Paris Paralympics, Oluwafemiayo continued to dominate, breaking her own record by lifting an incredible 167kg and securing another gold for Nigeria.

The 39-year-old also secured gold medals at the World Championships in Mexico in 2017, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan in 2019; Tbilisi, Georgia in 2021; Dubai, United Arab Emirates in 2023, and another gold at the Women’s Bench Press Heavyweight event in Birmingham, England (2022).
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