Nigeria's Athletes Aim for Success at Commonwealth Games

**The Director General of the National Sports Commission, Bukola Olopade, believes Nigeria’s para athletes, swimmers, and judokas can surprise everyone at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Scotland. He is confident that the country’s main sports will also perform well, according to The PUNCH.

Nigeria will compete in 10 sports with 74 athletes at the Games, which will take place from July 23 to August 2 in Glasgow.

Athletics, weightlifting, para sports, and boxing are expected to bring in most of the medals for Nigeria. But Olopade is particularly excited to see how athletes in less popular sports will do.

“The para lifters will definitely come up with gold medals, the same with para athletics. We are hopeful of winning seven to nine gold medals in athletics with Tobi Amusan, Kayinsola Ajayi, Temitope, and Chukwuebuka all being primed for gold medals,” Olopade said.

“We are also very optimistic about the weightlifters, and I have been told that the boxers are looking good as well. A lot of people are looking at Patricia Mbata and believing she can win a gold medal.”

Team Nigeria's Ambition

Beyond the usual medal winners, the NSC boss thinks Team Nigeria can also do well in sports that usually do not win medals.

“I believe in every athlete. For me, I want to see what our swimmers and judokas are capable of at this level. That will show tremendous improvement in those sports.”

Nigeria is going to the Games hoping to do better than in the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. There, Nigeria was the highest-ranked African nation with 35 medals: 12 gold, nine silver, and 14 bronze.

The athletes are now in a three-week training camp at the Aberdeen Sports Village in Scotland. They are putting the final touches on their training before heading to Glasgow for the Games.

Focus on Athletes' Welfare

Olopade recently said the commission is focused on athletes’ welfare as part of their preparations. He insists that competitors will get the best environment to succeed.

“At the heart of our strategy is the welfare of our athletes. We said the days of making our athletes feel inferior are gone. The days of making them feel hungry are gone, so they must be treated very well,” he said.

“The plan has taken us over one and a half years, and we must put them first. As we speak, their allowances are being processed for direct payments into their accounts.”

He added that this athlete-centered approach is not just for the Commonwealth Games but is now a key policy of the commission.

“It is not just for the Commonwealth Games; it is something we have been doing with individual sports, and we have been telling the federations that they must continue to do so.”**