Odunayo Folashade Adekuoroye is a well-known Nigerian freestyle Wrestler who has represented Nigeria at various local and international wrestling competitions.
She was among the 12 athletes that won gold medals for the country at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Never in the history of the Games has Nigeria ever won more than 11 Gold medals at a single edition. All that changed in the year 2022.
Interestingly, all 12 gold medals were won by female athletes, Adekuoroye being one of them.
The country won a total of 35 medals to finish in a commendable seventh position on the medals’ table. The medals also comprise of nine silver medals and 14 bronze medals.
Background
Adekuoroye was born on the 10th of December 1993 in Ilutitun, Ondo State in the South West part of Nigeria.
While growing up, she was much interested in athletics and was already practicing to be a professional one. She had to give up her track and field dream to venture in wrestling as a young secondary school girl.
She initially found it very hard to tell her parents about wanting to go into the sports so she lied to them. On her first competition, she informed her parents she was going to school but left for the tournament.
It took the intervention of her coach and other wrestling officials to calm her father as he was angry. He also did not want her to wrestle.
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After several assurances by her coach that he’ll take care of her education, her parents agreed and released her for wrestling trainings and competitions. Today, the rest is history.
Medals and Achievements
At the World Championships, Adekuoroye has been able to claim both the silver and bronze medals on different occasions. She won silver medal in the 55kg women’s wrestling category in Paris back in 2017.
The 28-year-old’s two bronze medals in the World Championships were won in 2015 and 2019. Both were in the 53kg and 57kg categories respectively.
In 2021, she won gold in the 59kg category at the Islamic solidarity games hosted in Konya.
The Commonwealth Games was her stronghold, as she three gold medals and a bronze medal.
Adekuoroye wrestled her way past tough opponents to land gold in 2014 during the Commonwealth Games. She won the medal in the 53kg category at the event was held in Glasgow, Scotland.
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Her second Commonwealth gold came four years later, when she resoundingly beat everyone that came her way to emerge victorious. This time, it was in the 57kg event that she stood tall in Gold Coast.
Yet another gold medal came her way in the 57kg event during the Games in Birmingham some days ago. Adekuoroye is truly a world beater and a champion par excellence.
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