Nigeria bags three gold medals at African Taekwondo Championships

The Nigerian Taekwondo team

Nigeria has scored big at the 2026 African Taekwondo Championships in Bamako, Mali. The team now has seven medals in total, with three gold, one silver, and three bronze medals from the World Taekwondo-sanctioned G-4 tournament at the Palais des Sports Salamatou Maiga, according to PUNCH Sports Extra.

The latest gold medals came from the Poomsae event on Tuesday. Aderibigbe Faridah won gold in the Freestyle Poomsae category. She also partnered with Salawudeen Abdulafeez to snag silver in the Pair Poomsae event.

Earlier in the event, Haruna Usman added another gold in the Poomsae U-40 Male category. Also, Para-Taekwondo athlete Mathew Udom earned the first gold for Nigeria in the -57kg Kyorugi category on Monday.

Nigeria's bronze medals were from Joel Jordan in the men’s +87kg Kyorugi division. Chidinma Okoko also earned bronze in the women’s -62kg Kyorugi category after beating Mali’s Samake Goundo in the quarterfinals but lost in the semifinals. Salawudeen Abdulafeez also picked up bronze in the Poomsae U-30 Male event.

Morocco took charge of the Kyorugi event, winning eight gold medals and finishing as overall champions.

Tayo Popoola, the President of the Nigeria Taekwondo Federation, was pleased with her team's performance after they won the first gold medal. She encouraged them to keep pushing for more.

"I know you can do it, so I need some more," she said.

"We are still competing in the Poomsae events and we hope to secure medals in various categories.

"I trust our Poomsae athletes to deliver and improve our position on the medal table."

The athletes have responded well to the president's encouragement, and she will surely be happy with their performances.