COMMONWEALTH GAMES, RECORD EQUALLING TEAM NIGERIA ARRIVES

Alhaji Ibrahim Isa Bio
Record equalling Team Nigeria contingent to the Delhi 2010 Olympic Games will be led home today by the Sports Minister and Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Alhaji Ibrahim Isa Bio. The contingent equalled Nigeria's Commonwealth Games record of 11 gold medals set by the Victoria'94 team.

The contingent will touch down at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos at 7.00pm local time.

When they left for Delhi, India last month, nobody gave them a chance, some bookmakers wrote them off, and posited that they will not win anything.

The bookmakers were proved wrong from day one when Nigeria won the first gold medal of the games. The success story continued from that day with team Nigeria athletes winning medals in weightlifting, power lifting, wrestling and athletics. At the end of the Games, the Delhi 2010 contingent of Team Nigeria won a total of 11 gold medals, equalling the record set by the Victoria'94 team in Victoria, Canada. Since the record was set in 1994, only the Manchester 2004 moved close to it by winning five gold medals.

The team that when to Melbourne in 2006 won only four gold medals.

Nigeria team to the first Commonwealth Games in Auckland in 1950 did not win any gold medal.

The team that when to Vancouver four years later won only one, the Cardiff 1958 did not win any gold medal.

Nigeria did not participate in Perth'62 Games, but she returned at Kingston 66 Games and won three gold medals, at the Edinburgh'70 Games Nigeria won two gold medals and three at Christchurch Games in 1974.