Nigeria Wins Four Medals In Sambo Event At 2023 All African Games In Ghana

It was a good outing for the Sambo Association of Nigeria as all the members of the four-man contingent for the sport won a medal at the ongoing All African Games in Ghana.

The final of the Sambo event at the 13th edition of the All African Games took place on Tuesday and it was a celebration galore for Team Nigeria.

Team Nigeria competed against Algeria, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Guinea, Mali, Morocco, Niger Republic, Togo and hosts, Ghana in the Sambo event which was one of the seven demonstration sports at the tournament.

Nigeria’s James Chegwam set the ball rolling for Nigeria as he won bronze in the men’s 58kg category.

Another Nigerian, Jonah Kajido landed a silver medal after losing to Morocco in the men’s 79kg category.

Nigeria’s only gold in the Sambo event was produced in the women’s 59kg category thanks to the outstanding performance of Charity Jatau.

As for Fatima Ogbonyomi, she settled for the silver medal in the women’s 65kg as all Nigerians in the Sambo event went home with a medal.

After the event, the vice president of the Sambo Association of Nigeria, Sheriff Hammed, said, “We came with four athletes, and we are returning with three medals, and this goes to show that there is more potential in the sport if we continue to promote and grow the sport.

“These medals would motivate us to work harder to grow the sport and we believe this set of athletes will inspire others to embrace the sport. We are excited and we hope Sambo will officially be recognized by the organizers of the African Games in subsequent editions while the International Olympic Committee will consider the sport for future Games.”