Onome Didih, Lawal power Nigeria to double gold with record-breaking displays in Glasgow
Onome Didih and Rafiatu Folashade Lawal spearheaded another dominant outing for Team Nigeria at the 2026 Commonwealth Games, winning gold with record-breaking performances to extend the country’s impressive run in weightlifting.
Didih captured the women’s 53kg title with a Commonwealth Games record total of 206kg, while Lawal successfully defended her women’s 58kg crown with a record-breaking 229kg total, handing Nigeria its sixth gold medal of the Games.
Didih rewrites the record books
Didih took control of the women’s 53kg competition from the opening lift, setting a Commonwealth Games record with 85kg before matching the Commonwealth record at 90kg. She then raised the bar to 93kg, establishing a new Commonwealth record and taking a five-kilogram lead into the clean and jerk.
She sealed victory with a 113kg lift in the clean and jerk, another Commonwealth Games record, to finish with a Games-record total of 206kg. India’s Gyaneshwari Yadav claimed silver with 199kg, while Canada’s Rebeka Groulx took bronze with 178kg.
Folashade Lawal defends title in style
Folashade Lawal followed with an equally commanding display in the women’s 58kg event, successfully defending her Commonwealth Games title in emphatic fashion.
The Nigerian lifted 103kg in the snatch to set both Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth records before producing 126kg in the clean and jerk, rewriting both marks again. Her combined total of 229kg also established new Games and Commonwealth records.
Lawal finished 14kg clear of Canada’s Ann-Sophie Taschereau, who settled for silver with 215kg, securing Nigeria’s sixth gold medal in Glasgow.
Nigeria’s weightlifting supremacy continues
The back-to-back victories reinforced Nigeria’s status as one of the Commonwealth’s leading weightlifting nations. Between them, Didih and Lawal claimed two gold medals and rewrote the record books, providing another emphatic statement of Team Nigeria’s strength on the Glasgow platform..