At the ongoing Tokyo Olympics, Nigerians home and abroad were joyous as Ese Brume won the first medal for Team Nigeria, and Blessing Oborududu followed with a silver medal in the wrestling event.
Earlier, the Federal Government said that athletes who win any medal would get cash prizes. A cash prize of $15,000 for gold medalist, $10,000 for silver, and $7500 for bronze medalist, respectively.
In accordance, Blessing Oborududu and Ese Brume received their cash prizes of $10,000 and $7500 cash prizes, respectively.
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In a statement today, the triumphant athletes were awarded their prizes by the Sports Minister, Sunday Dare, in an event held at the Grand Prince Hotel, Tokyo, Japan, on Tuesday, 3, 2021.
According to the statement, the Sports Minister said;
“There is no point delaying the reinforcement of these athletes who have made the country proud; that is the reason they were rewarded immediately for their record-breaking performances.”
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The silver medalist, Blessing, reacting said, ” I am just super excited, and I want to say thank you to all my supporters and the Federal Government of Nigeria for the encouragement.”
Recall, Chioma Ajunwa in 1996 became the first Nigerian to win a gold medal at the Olympics in Atlanta. Following behind now is Ese Brume, with bronze and Oborududu becoming the first-ever Nigerian wrestler to win a silver medal in the Olympics.
