Gateway Games 2024: Oborududu retires with gold medal

2021 Tokyo Olympic silver medalist, Blessing Oborududu, has bid emotional goodbye to wrestling after 19 years of active bout on the mat.

The 14-time African champion won her final bout to clinch gold for Bayelsa in the ongoing National Sports Festival in Abeokuta and end an illustrious career.

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The Bayelsa born wrestler received emotional farewell from national teammates with pleasant standing ovation from fans, officials, and wrestling stakeholders

An emotional Blessing Oborududu in her farewell speech “I want to thank everyone who has been part of my journey, the Nigeria Wrestling Federation led by Daniel Igali and the board members, my teammates, and family.

“After the Olympics, I thought of retiring, but the President suggested I retire officially at the National Sports Festival in Abeokuta where I made my first appearance as a young wrestler back in 2006.

“I created a lot of memories, but my most memorable one was the Tokyo Olympics, which ignited hope across Africa because it was the first ever medal from an African woman in wrestling at the Olympics, and I hope more will come for our future wrestlers,” Oborududu said.

In goodwill remarks, President Nigeria Wrestling Federation, Honourable Daniel Igali described Oborududu as an exceptional and absolute professional beyond being an athlete.

“The type of Blessing is not easy to come by, and not easy to replace. I get questions like how are you going to replace Blessing, the thing is you can’t replace Blessing, you might have another athlete, but not Blessing.

“That’s why I say bitter-sweet because the selfish part of you wants athlete like this to compete forever because for you is not just to have any athlete that does well, but one who has that mindset, discipline, pureness for the sport and most of these wrestlers you see stay with her in her house and she takes care of them as a duty. She is like a big sister to them, and that only for me is more than being a champion on the mat,” Igali stated.

Also, Hannah Reuben led the tribute of teammates, who stated her heartfelt admiration for Oborududu, acknowledging her dedication, achievements, and impact. She expressed gratitude to her years of service and being a great teammate and captain, and wishing her well in her future endeavours.