Blessing Oborududu’s hunt for an Olympic gold medal continues after the Nigerian progessed into the semifinals of the women’s 68kg wrestling category by defeating home favourite, France’s Koumba Larouque, in the quarterfinals on Monday.
Oborududu, who made her Olympics debut in 2016 in Rio, had to dig deep to secure a comeback win over Larouque, whom she defeated 6-2 by points.
The Nigerian, down 1-2 in the early stages of the bout, claimed a pinfall with about 30 seconds to go, silencing the crowd of French supporters inside the arena.
Earlier in the day, Oborududu, who also didn’t enjoy a great start, had beaten Canada’s Linda Morais 8-2 to book a spot in the quarterfinals.
The 35-year-old three-time Olympian, who won a silver medal at the Tokyo 2020 Games, will face Meerim Zhumanazarova of Kyrgyzstan for a spot in the final.
Zhumanazarova, ranked second in the world, beat Japan’s Ozaki Nonoka 8-6 to reach the semi-finals after overcoming Delgermaa Enkhsaikhan from Mongolia in the quarterfinals.
Oborodudu will be up against Zhumanazarova at 8:00 p.m. Nigerian time.
