Veteran powerlifter Folashade Oluwafemiayo defended her women’s heavyweight title on a night of Para powerlifting world records and Nigerian pride at the SEC Armadillo during the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games on Friday (24 July). Nigeria claimed three out of the four gold medals on offer, with England took the first medal of the Games through Mark Swan.
The two-time Paralympic champion Oluwafemiayo justified her top billing by setting a world best mark for lifters 86kg and over before bettering even that with her final attempt of the competition.
“If you have passion for something, there’s no other way,” Oluwafemiayo said. “You go with your whole heart. It’s about the passion, but also the resilience and the discipline.”
The 41-year-old piled the pressure on the rest of the field from the outset, going after her own Commonwealth Games record of 165kg on her opening lift, and making it look easy.
She followed up with an audacious shot at 172kg – four kilogrammes more than she lifted at the 2025 World Championships in Egypt last October – and nailed that, too.
The gold medal secured, she pushed the bar to 175kg and recorded her third successful lift of the night – each one a record.
“175 is not easy,” she said. “I was not expecting it, I was just calculating based on my training.
“It’s the preparation and the love that I have for the sport. There’s no champion forever, so you just keep on training.”
🇳🇬 Folashade the Heavyweight queen! The Nigerian takes gold ahead of Rita Ferdinand 🇳🇬, who set a new world record in her category! Hani Watson completes the podium with bronze 🇦🇺#ParaPowerlifting #Glasgow2026 pic.twitter.com/7aL3wTR4uh
— Para Powerlifting (@Powerlifting) July 24, 2026
Teammate Rita Ferdinand did all she could to claim the silver, setting a world record of her own for the women’s up to 79kg category of 158kg on her final lift.
Unlike at the Paralympic Games and World Para Powerlifting Championships, the Commonwealth Games heavyweight category for athletes over 61kg uses a coefficient formula to score lifts against the athletes’ individual body weights.
“I feel very awesome, my happiness knows no bounds,” Ferdinand said. “Folashade is like an idol to me. I look up to her and I wanted to be a world-record holder like she is.”
Another close friend but on-platform rival of Oluwafemiayo, Hani Watson of Australia, took the bronze, repeating her podium finish from four years ago.
First gold for Swan
England’s Mark Swan won the first gold medal of the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games in the most dramatic of circumstances in the men’s lightweight category, while Nigeria took gold and silver in the women’s event.
Swan lifted more than three times his body weight to post a personal best of 222kg on his second attempt, and was seemingly tied for gold with Nigerian veteran Roland Ezuruike on 153.9 points going into the final round.
But after both athletes failed on their final lift, the scores remained level until Swan was announced as the winner.
“I came back off the third lift and I actually thought, ‘Well, I’ve got bronze’,” Swan said. “My coach said, ‘Oh, good job on gold’. I was like, ‘Yeah?’. It didn’t make any sense. I thought they were winding me up.”
Based on the coefficient formula used to score lifts fairly against the athletes’ individual body weight, Swan was ultimately handed the gold by virtue of the second decimal point in the scoring – which was not visible on the results screen.
“I knew it was going to be a battle, but it’s just hit me by a massive surprise that I actually won,” Swan said. “It is just starting to sink in. It’s absolutely amazing and incredible.”
The first medal of the #Glasgow2026 goes to Mark Swan! Huge performance in the Men’s Lightweight, lifting 222 kg. History made! 🙌
🥇 Mark Swan 🏴
🥈 Roland Ezuruike 🇳🇬
🥉 Bonnie Buyau Gustin 🇲🇾#ParaPowerlifting pic.twitter.com/3vfCjpVDgn— Para Powerlifting (@Powerlifting) July 24, 2026
Malaysia’s Bonnie Bunyau Gustin – the two-time Paralympic champion and world record holder at up to 72kg – was only 0.4 points behind in third but also could not produce on his final lift, relinquishing the title he won in Birmingham four years ago.
For 50-year-old Ezuruike, there was no reason to be downbeat despite losing the gold by the narrowest of margins to an athlete half his age.
“This is sport for me – he’s a champion and I’m also a champion,” Ezuruike said. “We scored the same thing [but] I made a mistake, that’s why I missed the gold medal. If not, I could have been the champion. But so far so good, I thank god that I am on second place.”
Home favourite Finlay Davidson did all he could to raise the roof, placing fifth overall after topping group B with a best lift of 166kg.
Nigeria’s initial disappointment at missing the men’s lightweight gold was short-lived. In the later women’s category, Esther Nworgu won with a Games record score of 119 points, ahead of teammate Esther Oyema on 115.5. England’s Olivia Broome took bronze.
“It was like a dream come true. The joy was incredible because we put so much effort into it through training and preparing mentally, emotionally and physically. For me, it really was a dream come true,” Nworgu said.
Nigeria won their third gold medal when Riluwan Idris pushed the bar to 208kg on his second attempt in the men’s heavyweight event, the closing event of the Para powerlifting programme at this year’s Commonwealth Games.
England’s Matthew Harding took silver and Jhandu Kumar of India claimed the bronze.
“The competition was very tough. And I’m happy with how tough it was. I put in my best effort to push ahead,” Idris said.
The newly crowned Glasgow 2026 champion added that watching his teammates win medals gave him an extra lift:
“I felt good every time I saw them competing. I kept saying to myself, ‘You will do it. You can do it, and you will represent Nigeria.’ That’s how I pushed myself and put in more effort to make it here at the Commonwealth Games.”
Lifters at the SEC Armadillo were roared on by an enthusiastic crowd who had themselves been energised by Scottish actor Sam Heughan hitting the venue DJ decks during the build-up.
The Women’s Lightweight podium is set, with Esther Nworgu taking the top spot! The Nigerian lifted 123 kg to set a new Games record, finish ahead of teammate Esther Oyema 🙌
🥇 Esther Nworgu 🇳🇬
🥈 Esther Oyema 🇳🇬
🥉 Olivia Broome 🏴#ParaPowerlifting #Glasgow2026 pic.twitter.com/58BeW4o7j2— Para Powerlifting (@Powerlifting) July 24, 2026
Complete Glasgow 2026 Para powerlifting results can be found below:
Men’s Lightweight
1. Mark Swan (England) — 153.9 points
2. Roland Ezuruike (Nigeria) — 153.9
3. Bonnie Bunyau Gustin (Malaysia) — 153.5
4. Ashok (India) — 143.8
5. Finlay Davidson (Scotland) — 141.4
6. Ibrahim Dauda (Nigeria) — 140.1
7. Parmjeet Kumar (India) — 135.6
8. Ngungi Maringa (Kenya) — 127.0
9. Daniel Bos (Australia) — 123.3
10. Belinga Manga (Cameroon) — 103.9
11. Moffet Tolomae (Solomon Islands) — 94.0
12. Nick Mercieca (Malta) — 92.5
Women’s Lightweight
1. Esther Nworgu (Nigeria) — 119.0
2. Esther Oyema (Nigeria) — 115.5
3. Olivia Broome (England) — 106.6
4. Hellen Wawira Kariuki (Kenya) — 104.4
5. Charlotte McGuinness (England) — 96.9
6. Jaspreet Kaur (India) — 96.4
7. Suman Devi (India) — 88.4
8. Suzanne Menye M’eto (Cameroon) — 87.9
9. Rahab Ngare (Kenya) — 71.0
10. Jade Pritchard (Australia) — 60.6
11. Natasha Price (Australia) — 57.2
12. Janet Nakayobyo (Uganda) — 54.4
Women’s Heavyweight
1. Folashade Oluwafemiayo (Nigeria) — 134.8
2. Rita Ferdinard (Nigeria) — 128.2
3. Hani Watson (Australia) — 111.5
4. Louise Sugden (England) — 106.5
5. Thamar Gisele Mengue (Cameroon) — 93.8
6. Doaa Shayea (England) — 93.3
7. Joyce Wambui Njuguna (Kenya) — 92.2
8. Maria Markou (Cyprus) — 89.4
9. Hope Gordon (Scotland) — 75.7
10. Rebecca Zawedde (Uganda) — 63.6
11. Marek Sahi (Vanuatu) — 51.1
Unranked (No successful lift)
• Kasthuri Rajamani (India)
Men’s Heavyweight
1. Riluwan Idris (Nigeria) — 132.8
2. Matthew Harding (England) — 131.0
3. Jhandu Kumar (India) — 130.9
4. Nicodemus Manggoi Moses (Malaysia) — 120.3
5. Dennis Mbaziira (Uganda) — 114.1
6. Sudhir (India) — 114.1
7. Tahiru Haruna (Ghana) — 112.0
8. Ben Wright (Australia) — 110.9
9. Alfie Maddocks Bezance (Isle of Man) — 101.9
Unranked (No successful lift)
• Cameron Whittington (Australia)
• Bryan Junency Gustin (Malaysia)
