No excuses: Team Nigeria fired up by world-class C’wealth Games camp

With 14 days to the start of the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Team Nigeria athletes have expressed confidence ahead of the competition after settling into a world-class training camp at the Aberdeen Sports Village in Scotland, insisting there are no excuses as they intensify preparations for the Games.

Team Nigeria captain and Paralympic champion, Folashade Oluwafemiayo, led the athletes’ praise, as they began the final phase of preparations for the 2026 Commonwealth Games at the Aberdeen Sports Village in Scotland.

The Commonwealth Games will hold from July 23 to August 2 in Glasgow, with Nigeria set to compete in 10 sports through a 74-member athlete contingent.

For Oluwafemiayo, the quality of the facilities available at the training base has removed every excuse ahead of the competition.

“There is no excuse for failure because the equipment is very good for our training. This is one of the best training camps we have been to and I believe with this, we are going to make Nigeria proud,” she said.

The Nigerian contingent began training at Aberdeen Sports Village on Monday, with athletes making use of the venue’s internationally accredited facilities as they fine-tune preparations for the Games.

Located on Linksfield Road in Aberdeen, the sports village is one of Scotland’s leading high-performance training centres.

It features a World Athletics-accredited 400m track, a UK Athletics-accredited indoor athletics centre, an Olympic-standard aquatics centre, a high-performance gymnasium, recovery facilities and multi-sport indoor halls. The venue has hosted several international competitions and regularly serves as a training base for elite athletes from around the world.

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Director-General of the National Sports Commission, Bukola Olopade, said the decision to camp at the facility was aimed at giving Team Nigeria the best possible environment to prepare for Glasgow.

“Aberdeen Sports Village offers facilities that meet the highest international standards, and we are confident our athletes will make the most of this final preparation period. We remain optimistic about Team Nigeria’s prospects in Glasgow and wish every athlete an injury-free and successful campaign,” Olopade said.

Captain of Nigeria’s wheelchair basketball team, Ijigbamigbe Gbemisola, also believes the quality of the preparations has strengthened the team’s belief despite entering the Games as underdogs.

“We are ready to prove critics wrong. We are the underdogs, but now we are coming out on top.”

Multiple weightlifting medallist Edidiong Joseph is equally optimistic, hoping the improved preparations will help her better the bronze medal she won in Birmingham four years ago.

“This is the first time I am going on a training tour since the last Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. I won a bronze medal then and this time I have to return home with a gold medal. I am very happy with the level of preparation and I thank the NSC for putting this in place.”

Team Nigeria will be aiming to surpass its performance at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, where it finished as Africa’s highest-ranked nation with 35 medals comprising 12 gold, nine silver and 14 bronze.