Team Nigeria ready and motivated for Commonwealth Games

With just 14 days to go before the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Team Nigeria athletes are feeling confident. They have started their training at a top-notch camp at the Aberdeen Sports Village in Scotland. The athletes say they have no excuses as they ramp up their preparations for the Games.

Team Nigeria captain and Paralympic champion, Folashade Oluwafemiayo, praised the facilities. She led the athletes as they began their final training phase at the Aberdeen Sports Village.

The Commonwealth Games will take place from July 23 to August 2 in Glasgow. Nigeria will compete in 10 sports with a team of 74 athletes.

Oluwafemiayo believes the quality of the training facilities leaves no room for excuses. "There is no excuse for failure because the equipment is very good for our training. This is one of the best training camps we have been to and I believe with this, we are going to make Nigeria proud," she said.

The Nigerian team started training at the Aberdeen Sports Village on Monday. Athletes are using the venue’s internationally accredited facilities to fine-tune their preparations for the Games.

The sports village is located on Linksfield Road in Aberdeen. It is one of Scotland’s top high-performance training centres.

The village features a World Athletics-accredited 400m track, an indoor athletics centre, an Olympic-standard aquatics centre, a gym, recovery facilities, and multi-sport indoor halls. The venue has hosted many international competitions and is used by elite athletes from around the world.

Bukola Olopade, the Director-General of the National Sports Commission, said they chose this facility to give Team Nigeria the best chance to prepare. "Aberdeen Sports Village offers facilities that meet the highest international standards, and we are confident our athletes will make the most of this final preparation period. We remain optimistic about Team Nigeria’s prospects in Glasgow and wish every athlete an injury-free and successful campaign," Olopade said.

Ijigbamigbe Gbemisola, captain of Nigeria’s wheelchair basketball team, also feels the quality of their preparation has boosted the team's confidence. Even as underdogs, they are ready to show what they can do. "We are ready to prove critics wrong. We are the underdogs, but now we are coming out on top."

Multiple weightlifting medallist Edidiong Joseph is also feeling positive. She hopes the better preparations will help her improve on the bronze medal she won in Birmingham four years ago. "This is the first time I am going on a training tour since the last Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. I won a bronze medal then and this time I have to return home with a gold medal. I am very happy with the level of preparation and I thank the NSC for putting this in place."

Team Nigeria aims to beat its performance at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, where it finished as Africa’s highest-ranked nation with 35 medals, 12 gold, nine silver, and 14 bronze.