Team Nigeria has finished second overall in the Weightlifting event of the ongoing 2023 African Games behind Egypt with 16 gold, 10 Silver and 6 Bronze medals as against Egypt who came top with 24 gold, 4 Silver and 4 Bronze medals after the conclusion of the event on Thursday.
Nigeria’s Lucky Joseph in the Men’s +109kg grabbed three silver medals to end the event on a high note for Team Nigeria Weightlifters. Joseph lifted 152kg in the snatch and followed that up with 190kg in the clean and jerk and 342kg in the total lift to increase the country’s medals haul to 32 in the event.
He finished second behind Egyptian’s Abdulrahman Mohamed Abdelrahman who bagged the three gold medals in the category.
Team Nigeria Weightlifters will return to Nigeria with their head held high with almost all the 12 Weightlifters winning medals in their various categories.
The women’s Weightlifters even topped the medals’ table in their category with 13 gold and two silver medals as against 11 gold, three silver and four bronze medals got by the Egyptians’ women who finished second.
The President Nigeria Weightlifting Federation, Dr Abdul Ibrahim said he was short of words to describe Team Nigeria Weightlifters’ performance in Ghana adding that even though they were unable to beat the 16 gold, 16 silver and 18 bronze medals acquired at the 2019 African Games in Morocco he was satisfied with the general outing.
He said the team will now shift attention to the final Olympic Qualifiers which holds at the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Cup from March 31st to April 11th in Phuket, Thailand.
“I am highly delighted with the performance of our athletes at the African Games. We came to the Games with the determination to exceed our 2019 performance and we were very close to achieving that. Our Weightlifters fought until the last minutes and I am very proud of them,” Dr Ibrahim told the NWF Media.
“We will not rest on our laurels knowing that the objective still remains having our Weightlifters compete with the best at the Olympic Games. We have just a tournament more to achieve that and all hands must be on deck to ensure we raise the resources to allow our athletes to compete in Thailand.
“We will continue to call on corporate or individuals who have been touched by our performance in all the competitions we have taken part in to come to our aid. We are very confident Nigeria will present Weightlifters that will do the country proud at the Olympic Games.
“The Weightlifting contingent will return home with the Weightlifters who are billed to take part in Thailand having no much time to rest with the IWF World Cup just around the corner.”
Umuoafia Edidiong (Men’s 73kg), Joy Ogbonne Eze (Women’s 71kg), Rafiatu Lawal (Women’s 59kg) and Adijat Olarinoye (Women’s 59kg) are still in the running for Olympic Games tickets.
Nigeria’s Weightlifting Medalists at the 2023 African Games
Adijat Olarinoye (Women’s 55kg) 3 Gold medals
Rafiatu Lawal (Women’s 59kg) 3 Gold medals
Ruth Ayodele (Women’s 64kg) 3 Gold medals
Joy Eze (Women’s 71kg) 3 Gold medals
Edidiong Umoafia (Men’s 67kg) 3 Gold medals
Mary Osijo (Women’s 87kg) 1 Gold, 2 Silver medals
Lucky Joseph (Men’s +109kg) 3 Silver medals
Favour Agboro (Men’s 61kg) 2 Silver , 1 Bronze medals
Desmond Akano (Men’s 96kg) 2 Silver, 1 Bronze medals
Abayomi Adeyemi (Men’s 102kg) 1 Silver , 2 Bronze medals
King Kalu (Men’s 55kg) 2 Bronze medals
Source: Nigeria Weightlifting Federation Media
