United World Wrestling confirmed that the top finalists in each weight category would secure berths for the Olympic Games, solidifying the achievements of these four athletes who finished among the top two in their respective weight divisions.
Leading the charge, Odunayo Adekuoroye had already secured her place in Paris following a bronze medal win in the women’s 57kg category at the World Championships in Belgrade last year.
Blessing Oborududu, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medalist, secured her spot for the 2024 Paris Olympics with a commanding 2-0 pinfall victory over Uilau Tarkong of Palau in the 68kg Women’s category.
Hannah Reuben, the World Military champion in the 76kg category, dominated her opponent Amy Youin of Ivory Coast with a resounding 6-0 victory, adding to her accolades that include a gold medal at the African Games in Accra, Ghana.
Esther Kolawole joined the roster of Nigerian athletes bound for France after a convincing 10-0 superiority win against Angelina Rodrigues of Cape Verde, building on her previous successes at the African Games and African Championships.
Christiana Ogunsanya, another African Games champion, secured her Paris Games qualification by overpowering Egyptian contender Shaimaa Mohamed with a dominant 10-0 superiority win in the 53kg Women’s event.
However, Mercy Genesis narrowly missed out on qualification for the Paris Olympics after a hard-fought battle that ended in a 5-7 defeat to Nada Mohamed of Egypt in the 50kg weight class.
With the female wrestlers securing their spots, attention now turns to the Nigerian male freestyle wrestlers who will strive to follow suit on the final day of the qualifiers scheduled for Sunday.
The remaining Olympic slots will be up for grabs at the 2024 World Qualification Tournament in Istanbul, Turkey, from May 9 to 12, offering three quota places per weight category to the highest-ranked wrestlers and the champion of a wrestle-off between two bronze medalists.
