More than 5,000 male and female competitors from 72 nations and territories will compete in the 22nd Commonwealth Games, which begin on Thursday in Birmingham, UK.
Over the next 11 days, they will compete in 20 sports and their numerous events, offering a total of 280 gold medals. Nigeria will be represented by 94 competitors.
The Queen’s Baton Relay culminates in the opening ceremony for Birmingham 2022, which starts at the city’s Alexander Stadium at 9 p.m. Nigerian time.
Prior to the relay’s arrival in Birmingham, the Games Torch had traveled through all 72 countries and territories.
Cycling, athletics, gymnastics, swimming, weightlifting, rugby sevens, beach volleyball, judo, lawn bowls, table tennis, squash, netball, boxing, powerlifting, and wrestling are among the sports taking place at the Games.
The other sports are women’s T20 cricket, wheelchair basketball, and 3-on-3 basketball, all of which will be making their Games debuts.
One unusual aspect of these Games is that there are 136 events for women and athletes competing in parasports, which is a record for the Games (42).
Team Nigeria has consistently performed on par with the average level, winning 236 medals in all—70 gold, 75 silver, and 91 bronze—for a total position of ninth all-time.
This contrasts with how they performed at the more extensive Olympic Games.
Nigeria finished tenth at the 2018 Gold Coast Olympics with nine gold, nine silver, and six bronze medals.
The emphasis will be on how to improve on the 2018 performance and their best-ever outing since this would be Nigeria’s 15th appearance at the Games since the first one in 1950.
This occurred in Victoria in 1994, where 37 medals totaling 11 gold, 13 silver, and 13 bronze were won.
With 33 men and women, nine boxers, four judokas, five para-athletes, eight powerlifters, and seven para table tennis players, Team Nigeria must now succeed in the athletics.
They will be accompanied by nine players of table tennis, nine lifters, and ten wrestlers.
Following their qualification, NAN reported that these 94 athletes underwent a variety of training sessions, largely at home in Nigeria.
They will therefore be held accountable for successfully carrying out their obligations to realize the dreams and aspirations of several million Nigerians back home.
