Nigeria’s Rafiatu Lawal, Edidiong Umoafia, and Onome Didih won three gold medals and set six Commonwealth Games records at Glasgow 2026 on Monday.
Rafiatu Folashade Lawal won gold in the women’s 58kg weightlifting event, taking Nigeria’s overall tally at the Games to six gold and four silver medals, with Edidiong Joseph Umoafia and Onome Omolola Didih also winning gold earlier on the same day.
Lawal opened with a 103kg snatch that gave her a nine-kilogramme lead over Canada’s Ann-Sophie Taschereau before sealing the title with a 126kg clean and jerk, completing a combined total of 229kg that set a new Commonwealth Games record, surpassing the previous mark in the event.
Taschereau claimed silver with a total of 215kg after a 121kg clean and jerk, while India’s Bindyarani Devi Sorokhaibam took bronze with an overall total of 199kg.
Umoafia set the tone for the day before Lawal’s performance, lifting a combined total that rewrote the record books in one of the day’s most anticipated men’s events. Umoafia recorded 147kg in the snatch before matching the field’s best with a 172kg clean and jerk, finishing with a winning total of 319kg, itself a new Commonwealth Games record.
Samoa’s John Lautafi Tafi also lifted 172kg in the clean and jerk but settled for the silver medal with a 314kg total, while Ezekiel Moses of Nauru claimed bronze after finishing with 310kg.
After winning the women’s 53kg event with a total of 206kg, Didih said, “I want to shout out to all my teammates, all the coaches, and everybody who has helped us to prepare for these Games. We all encourage each other, we love each other nobody thinks they are better or more important than anybody else. We are all in this together, a very strong team.”
Didih dominated at the SEC Armadillo, lifting 93kg in the snatch and 113kg in the clean and jerk for a combined total of 206kg. Each of her three successful lifts established new Commonwealth Games records, giving the Nigerian a clean sweep of the records in the event.
Her 206kg total placed her ahead of India’s Gyaneshwari Yadav, who won silver with 199kg, while Canada’s Rebeka Groulx claimed bronze with a combined lift of 178kg.
South Africa’s Johanni Taljaard finished fourth with 175 kg in the women’s 53 kg event. The day’s triple success extended what has become one of Nigeria’s most productive weother;fting campaigns at . Nobodymonwealth Games, with the country’s cumulative haul standing at six gold medals and four silver medals by the close of Monday’s competition.
Umoafia joined in celebrations from a Nigerian contingent in the arena as Didih claimed her sweep of Commonwealth records, and both champions then stayed on to support Lawal, who completed a third consecutive gold for the team in the space of a single session.
But the day’s achievements extended beyond the weightlifting platform. Nigeria’s haul in para powerlifting also contributed to the medal count, with Esther Nworgu, Folashade Oluwafemiayo and Riluwan Idris each winning gold, while Esther Oyema, Roland Ezuruike and Rita Ferdinand each claimed silver.
Ruth Asuquo Nyong had earlier contributed a silver medal in the women’s 48kg weightlifting event, while Favour Agboro finished fourth in the men’s 65kg, missOluwafemiayo,um. The weightlifting haul from Monday’s competition alone standsEzuruike,e gold medals and one silver across the discipline’s events at Glasgow 2026.
Umoafia is the first Nigerian male weightlifter to win gold at the Commonwealth Games in almost 16 years, with all previous Commonwealth Games weightlifting gold medals won by Nigeria at New Delhi 2010, Glasgow 2014, and Birmingham 2022 having been won by female weightlifters.
Nigeria’s athletics program was also gathering momentum as the team looked to build on one of its most productive outings in the history of the Commonwealth Games. Three gold medals and six broken records in a single day of weightlifting competition represent the clearest measure of the country’s performance at Glasgow 2026.
