Nigeria’s Esther Kolawole Wins Bronze at U23 World Wrestling Championship

Nigerian wrestler Esther Kolawole (OLY) has claimed a bronze medal at the 2024 U23 World Wrestling Championship in Albania. Competing in the women’s 62kg category, Kolawole defeated Estonia’s Viktoria Vesso 10-0 to secure the medal.

Kolawole dismissed any notion that the bronze was a consolation for her performance at the Paris 2024 Olympics, where she did not win a medal.

“I feel great winning this bronze medal because I was the only Nigerian athlete at the championship,” Kolawole said. “It’s not a compensational medal; I really worked hard for it. The medal is the result of my preparation through the Olympic training program, and even after the Olympics, the federation kept pushing me.”

Kolawole acknowledged that her coach, Purity Akuh, was not satisfied with her performance in Albania, believing she could have won gold.

“My coach wasn’t happy; he felt I could have done better. I feel like I disappointed him, especially after all the effort he put into my training. But I’m grateful to God, and I’ve promised myself to make him proud in the future,” she added per ACL.

Looking ahead, the African Games champion announced her participation in the Governor Douye Diri Wrestling Championship in Bayelsa State this November.

“I’ll keep training for the next season. My focus is on the 2025 African Championships in Morocco, the Ranking Series, and the World Wrestling Championships,” Kolawole said, expressing her determination to achieve more success for Nigeria.