Watch Richard Okigbazi win Bronze in Discus For Nigeria – THROWING ON ONE LEG!

Exactly a week ago this morning, Nigeria won it’s very first Athletics medal at the just concluded Commonwealth Games, a Bronze in the F42/44 Men’s Discus Throw by Richard Okigbazi. The F42 and F44 classifications are for Athletes with single leg amputations (above or below the knee respectively) or similar leg impairments. As the Commonwealth Games drew to a close yesterday for another 4 years, we felt  it important to shed more light on the amazing feat of Richard Okigbazi winning this Bronze medal, especially considering that it was ONE of only TWO medals Nigeria’s men won in Track & Field! Here is a fan-made clip of him throwing:

What makes his feat even more impressive is that, while most competitors in this category used their prosthetic legs to compete, Okigbazi threw balanced on just one leg, and as can be seen from the video above, throws his leg support away just before making the throw! One blogger even called it one of the most incredible sporting things they had ever seen! Okigbazi was able to generate enough power to launch the discuss an whopping 39.38 metres, which was enough to grab him the Bronze! When the F42 and F44 classes are combined, a points system was used to calculate the medal placements:

Having gotten to experience singing the National Anthem THREE times in a packed Hampden Park in Glasgow last week (for GOLD medals in women’s 100m, 200m and Long Jump), there is one certain line which resonated very well with onlookers in the crowd as we belted out each line with immense pride at being Nigerian: “The Labour of our heroes past shall never be in vain!” Let’s make sure that the labour of Richard Okigbazi in doing Nigeria proud at the Commonwealth Games, and the labour of all our Para-Athletes past and present shall never be in vain.

While our able-bodied athletes were not able to get a single medal at the London 2012 Olympics, our Paralympians won TWELVE medals in all – SIX GOLD, FIVE Silver & ONE Bronze, but they don’t get nearly as much praise or recognition for the feats they achieve in the face of great adversity. Let’s celebrate them and continue supporting them, financially and otherwise, to continue putting Nigeria on the map globally! Share this story with someone today, to inspire them to greatness despite whatever challenges they may face. CONGRATULATIONS Richard Okigbazi, COMMONWEALTH BRONZE MEDALLIST! Onwards and upwards to Rio!