Top para thrower Zinabu Issah made history on Monday night by grabbing Ghana’s first medal in any sport at the 2026 Commonwealth Games, after clinching silver in the women’s F57 Shot Put final with a season’s best 8.65m.
Featuring in a tough field of nine athletes that included defending champion Eucharia Iyiazi of Nigeria, Issah defied the odds to upstage all throwers preceding her Commonwealth Games debut at the Scotstoun Stadium in Glasgow.
The 46-year-old Paris 2024 Olympian wasted no time imposing her superiority in a competition that mandates each thrower to make six attempts before the best distance is picked.
Issah’s first throw proved decisive, even though all of her five subsequent efforts were still better than the best of India’s Shilpa Kanchugarakoppalu Shyla who was leading the field with 7.26m before the Ghanaian took the stage.
With only two throwers still left after her effort took her to the top of the standings, Issah was already assured of a podium finish even before eventual winner Sharmila of India stormed to a staggering 9.81m to jump above the Ghanaian woman.
Issah’s silver, and Ghana’s first medal at the 2026 event, was eventually sealed after the defending champion Iyiazi failed to beat the Ghanaian’s 8.65 mark.
Iyiazi who appeared to seal third spot for the bronze, was eventually stripped of the position and disqualified altogether with NM (No Mark), indicating that her attempts were not measurable or valid according to the rules.
The decision erased the Nigerian’s best throw of 8.19m, pushing Shyla into third spot on the standings for the bronze medal. Iyiazi however lodged a formal protest to have her mark restored, thereby necessitating the postponement of the medal ceremony for the complaint to be attended to before a final ruling later today.
For Zinabu Issah and gold medal winner Sharmila however, their respective positions are assured, and await their coronation on the podium later today. Issah couldn’t hide her emotions when she spoke to Graphic Sports shortly after she submitted her urine for a mandatory doping test last night.
“I feel extremely excited, I have won several gold medals at different competitions but winning silver at my first Commonwealth Games is rare. It feels me with so much excitement,” she said.
“I thank everyone in Ghana for all their prayers, especially my (NPC Ghana) President Samson Deen and GOC for bringing and supporting me here. I wouldn’t come here or even know Glasgow if not for them, so I’m very grateful,” Zinabu Issah said.
