Team Nigeria Emerges Africa’s Best at Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games

AFOLABI SAHEED OLAWALE 

Nigeria has emerged as the best African nation at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, finishing seventh overall among the 72 participating nations with a total of 24 medals (10 gold, 7 silver and 7 bronze medals).

Nigeria was also the only African nation to finish in the top 10 of the overall medal table, while South Africa, Kenya, Mauritius and Cameroon also placed in the top 20, finishing 11th, 12th, 14th and 18th, respectively.

Australia emerged as the overall winner of the medal table, retaining the top position it achieved at the Birmingham 2022 edition. The Australians finished with 70 gold, 45 silver and 56 bronze medals.

Team Nigeria’s haul of 10 gold medals in Glasgow has been widely regarded as an impressive outing, particularly considering the significantly reduced number of sports on the programme compared with the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

The Glasgow programme did not include sports such as wrestling and table tennis, two disciplines in which Nigeria has traditionally enjoyed considerable success at the Commonwealth Games. At Birmingham 2022, Nigeria won two gold, two silver and two bronze medals in wrestling, as well as two silver and two bronze medals in table tennis.

Despite the reduced medal opportunities, Glasgow 2026 witnessed Team Nigeria end several long-standing medal droughts and achieve historic breakthroughs across different sports.

In judo, Enku Ekuta’s bronze medal in the women’s -63kg category was Nigeria’s first Commonwealth Games medal in the sport in 24 years.

Samuel Ogazi also made history with his gold medal in the men’s 400m, becoming the first Nigerian man to win the Commonwealth Games title in the event. His triumph represented a major breakthrough for Nigeria in the quarter-mile on the Commonwealth stage.

Nigeria also recorded significant progress in swimming, where Abduljabar Adama advanced to the semifinals, marking an encouraging milestone for the country’s development in a sport where Nigeria has historically struggled to compete with the Commonwealth’s leading nations.

The Nigerian wheelchair basketball team also made an impressive Commonwealth Games debut in Glasgow, progressing from the group stage to compete in the knockout playoff phase and providing another indication of the country’s growing potential across para sports.

Nigeria equally celebrated a historic breakthrough in the women’s high jump, where Temitope Adeshina claimed bronze. Her podium finish represented another significant milestone for Nigerian athletics at the Games.

Team Nigeria’s seventh-place overall finish, 10 gold medals and status as Africa’s highest-ranked nation underline the country’s strong showing in Glasgow, despite competing in a Commonwealth Games programme that offered fewer medal opportunities than previous editions.