Nigeria’s 12-medal Rio campaign recognised among the IPC’s moments of 2016
Eight gold medals helped Nigeria finish as Africa’s highest-ranked nation at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.
Nigeria’s Paralympians won eight gold, two silver and two bronze medals at Rio 2016, a performance highlighted in the IPC’s year-end review. The country finished 17th in the overall medal table, its highest position at that point and the leading African result at those Games.
Strength on the bench and in the field
Six of Nigeria’s gold medals came in powerlifting. Josephine Orji marked her Paralympic debut with a world-record 160kg lift in the women’s over 86kg event. Bose Omolayo, Ndidi Nwosu, Lucy Ejike, Paul Kehinde and Roland Ezuruike also won titles.
The success extended to athletics. Flora Ugwunwa set a world record of 20.25m to win the women’s javelin F54, while Lauritta Onye won the women’s shot put F40 with 8.40m. Eucharia Iyiazi added discus F57 bronze. The IPC selected the collective performance as number 23 in its Top 50 Moments of 2016.