Nigerian female freestyle wrestler, Odunayo Adekuoroye, has become the country’s first grappler to qualify for next year’s Olympic Games in Paris after winning the bronze medal in women’s 57kg at the ongoing World Championships in Belgrade on Wednesday.
Adekuoroye won her third-place fight against Elvira Kamaloglu, defeating her Turkish opponent 9-5 to secure a spot for Paris.
Paris 2024 will be Adekuoroye’s third Olympics and she will be gunning for the elusive medal after disappointments in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.
The 29-year-old who missed the African Wrestling Championship earlier this year was charged for her first world title but lost 6-4 to world No.1 and India’s Sarita Mor in the quarter-finals on Tuesday.
She was able to compete in the repechage on Wednesday which propelled her to winning her third World Championships bronze medal and a spot at next year’s Olympics.
Meanwhile, 11-time African champion and silver medallist at Tokyo 2020, Blessing Oborududu, narrowly lost to Vusala Parfianovich in the women’s 68kg quarter-finals, just as Esther Kolawole also lost 7-1 to world No. 8, Grace Bullen of Norway in the quarter-finals of the women’s 62kg event.
Both Oborududu and Kolawole will have a chance to punch their Olympic tickets on Thursday (today) in the repechage if their conquerors progress to the final of their respective events.
