The head coach of Nigeria’s female wrestling team, Purity Akuh, has expressed satisfaction with the performance of the Nigerian wrestlers at the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid, Spain.
The contingent is now in Germany for their final camping ahead of the Olympic Games in Paris, France.
The wrestlers, who participated in the pre-Olympic tournament, secured two bronze medals. Esther Kolawole (62kg) and Ogunsanya Christinah (53kg) both clinched bronze for Team Nigeria in the semis.
Ogunsanya defeated her USA counterpart, Brianne Gonzales, with a dominant 10-0 victory, while Kolawole triumphed over Sweden’s Johanna Lindborg with an 8-0 win.
Three-time Commonwealth champion Odunayo Adekuoroye was edged out on technical grounds, losing to Norwegian Othile Hole in the quarter-final.
Similarly, African champion Hannah Reuben lost her first bout.
Reacting to the team’s performance, Akuh highlighted the importance of the tournament as a preparatory platform for the Paris Games.
“It was a good outing for our girls in the sense that it offered us the opportunity to look at areas we needed to improve on,” Purity said.
“It also gave the wrestlers the avenue to wrestle competitively, although not as if it were to be in Paris, but it was great, and we have known areas we need to improve upon.”
Before the team departed for Germany, the President of the Nigeria Wrestling Federation, Daniel Igali, urged the contingent to leverage the experiences from Madrid for their technical advantage.
Led by the Secretary-General of the NWF, Mohammed Maigidansanma, the team is set to refine their strategies and skills in their final preparations for the Olympics.