IWF World Championship: Nigerian Weightlifters bag nine medals

Nigerian Weightlifters returned home with nine medals at the just concluded International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Championships and Commonwealth Games qualifiers which held in Uzbekistan.

A total of seven Nigerian lifters, made up of five women and two men represented the country in the 10-day events.

Abdul Ibrahim, President of the Nigeria Weightlifting Federation (NWF), told newsmen on Friday in Abuja that the lifters would continue to win medals any time they represented Nigeria.

He praised the lifters for the great achievements they recorded in the championships.

“We won nine medals and I am very happy about this. We showcased what we have achieved in a short time. This is just a new beginning, we are going to achieve more than this. It’s not going to be achieved easily but we are going to be well prepared,” he said.

Ibrahim said the federation would organise a training course for coaches and improve their welfare and that of athletes.

He said next year the federation would participate in Africa weightlifting qualifier in Mauritius.

On his part, the Technical Director of NWF, Christopher Nwadei, said the competition was very tough and pointed out that many athletes from various countries had improved a lot.

“We thank God for the little preparation we did and you must be aware that almost 70 countries participated in the championships. All the athletes were in high spirit, there was no distractions and we got there and did what we knew how to do best,” he said.

He said the Nigerian team won four out of the 10 gold medals at the Commonwealth qualifiers.

“We won two sliver and three bronze medals at the World Championships. Stella Kingsley competing in the 50kg won the gold medal in her category,” he said.

“Adijat Olarinoye won a gold medal in the Commonwealth qualifiers and silver medal in World Championships and two bronze medals in the 59 kg. Joy Eze competed in 71-kg category, won a gold medal and also won sliver in World Championships.”

The IWF World Championships and Commonwealth Senior Championships which started on Dec. 7 ended on Dec. 17 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.