TheCable

Blessing Oborududu, Tokyo Olympic medalist, will be grappling for her 11th continental title for Nigeria as the African wrestling championship begins in El Jadida, Morroco.

The 33-year-old will be defending her 68kg crown in women’s freestyle and continue her dominance which has held sway since 2010.

Oborududu became the first Nigerian wrestler to win a medal at the Olympics after she outwrestled Elis Manolova of Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan’s Meerim Zhumanazarova in the preceding rounds, only to be stopped by USA’s Tamyra Stock-Mensah in the final.

She also began the 2022 season with a gold medal at the Ranking Series in Istanbul in February.

Also expected in Morroco is Odunayo Adekuoroye, who has spent around nine months off competition.

She will scale up to 59kg at the tournament for her return to competitive action, having claimed the continental title five times.

The championship is also a warm-up for Adekuoroye before her title defence at the Commonwealth Games in August.

Nigeria entered nine wrestlers out of ten weight classes, missing the 62kg category. It may prove tricky as Tunisia, the biggest challengers, have entries in all 10 weight categories.

Nigeria has won 119 gold medals, 61 silver, and 60 bronze at the African championship.

The tournament will hold between May 17 to 22, with competitions among cadets also in the programme.