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Esther Kolawole stole the spotlight in Madrid, winning gold with a clean sweep at the Spanish Wrestling Grand Prix.
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Her win sparks bigger dreams as she heads to Budapest and Croatia.
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Each match shows she’s not just rising—she’s the real deal.
Esther Kolawole won the gold medal at the 2025 Spanish Wrestling Grand Prix in Madrid. She defeated America’s Haylie Jaffe 10–0 by superiority in Saturday’s final.
Also Read: Nigeria Dominates Female Wrestling at 13th African Games, Secures Six Gold Medals
Earlier on, the Paris 2024 Olympian beat Spain’s Lydia Perez 10–0 in the quarter-finals and then outpointed Poland’s Alicja Nowosad 4–1 in the semi-finals.
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This perfect performance shows a big jump from her bronze finish last year.
As Africa’s current champion, Esther Kolawole used Madrid as a springboard for the World Wrestling Ranking Series in Budapest, kicking off on July 14.
Next up is the World Championships in Croatia this September.
Nigeria’s Wrestling Federation leads this plan, sending wrestlers like her to high-level tournaments to hone their skills.
National Women’s Coach Purity Akuh emphasized that these competitions let the team track improvements and fine-tune their training.
That tactic has yielded, as Christinah Ogunsanya earns bronze in the 53kg division in addition to Kolawole’s victory at last year’s Grand Prix, showing Nigeria’s growing strength in women’s wrestling.
Riding this momentum, Esther Kolawole heads to Budapest and then Croatia, cementing her status as one of the sport’s rising stars.
Fans at home already can’t wait to cheer her on.
