Chijioke Gabriel
After the third day of the 22nd National Sports Festival tagged Gateway Games 2024, delivered Team Bayelsa have surged to the top of the medals table, staking an early claim as a dominant force in this year’s edition.
Bayelsa currently leads the standings with a total of nine medals—six gold, two silver, and one bronze—highlighting their strong start across multiple disciplines.
Oyo State follows closely with six medals, including four golds, while Lagos sits third with ten medals in total (three gold, four silver, three bronze).
Cross River and Rivers states round out the top five. The Invited Junior Athletes, who are dubbed as the 38th state at the games, are also rubbing shoulders with the elites, occupying the sixth position with two gold medals, one silver and one bronze medal, while defending champions Delta, who have won the last four editions of the games, are notably in seventh position with just one gold after Day 3.
So far, a total of 71 medals have been won at the games, consisting 23 gold, 23 silver and 25 bronze medals.
The tussle for more medals continues on Wednesday with medal events in weightlifting, women’s badminton, squash and other games.
Other events commencing on Wednesday (today) include swimming and tennis at the MKO Abiola Sports Complex, while gymnastics and volleyball will get underway at the Alake Sports Complex.
