While there were no additional medals for Team Nigeria in their last events on Saturday, the country’s special athletes have done enough to be celebrated for their heroics in Rio.
Having left for the 2016 Paralympics without any fanfare and on the heels of another disappointing Olympic Games show, the physically-challenged athletes lifted spirits high in Rio where they amassed a dozen medals.
Eight of the total haul was gold while there were two silver as well as two bronze medals in the kitty. These may just see Nigeria finish as the top African team at the 2016 Paralympics.
The medals gathered also looked good enough to guarantee Nigeria her best ever placement in the Paralympics; the highest mark being the 22nd position achieved in Sydney 2000.
As at Sunday morning, Nigeria was 16th on the medal table and number one in Africa. The competition ends on Sunday when Nigeria will not be participating in any event.
The winners
Six Nigerian athletes broke the World Records (WR) in their events, in some instances they did it twice or thrice while still competing to win Gold.
Powerlifting and athletics accounted for the WRs.
Some of the gold medal winners include Ezuruike Roland, Kehinde Paul, Ejike Lucy, Onye Lauritta, Nwosu Ndidi, Omolayo Bose, Ugwunwa Flora, and Orji Josephine.
The silver medalists are Tijani Latifat and Oyema Esther while Innocent Nnamdi and Iyiazi Eucharia won bronze.
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