Nigerian weightlifters brought home nine medals from the recently concluded International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Championships and Commonwealth Games qualifiers in Uzbekistan.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), a total of seven Nigerian lifters, five women and two men, represented the country in the 10-day events.
The President of the Nigeria Weightlifting Federation (NWF), Abdul Ibrahim, told reporters in Abuja on Friday that the lifters would continue to win medals whenever they represented Nigeria.
He congratulated the lifters on their outstanding performances in the championships.
“We won nine medals, which makes me very happy.” We demonstrated what we had accomplished in a short period of time.
“This is just the beginning; we will accomplish much more.” It will not be easy, but we will be well prepared,” he said.
Ibrahim stated that the federation would organize a training course for coaches in order to improve their and athletes’ welfare.
He stated that the federation would compete in the Africa weightlifting qualifier in Mauritius next year.
“We will prepare some other qualified athletes while also keeping an eye on these current athletes who did Nigeria proud in the recently concluded championships.”
“We are not going to relax; instead, we will continue our training.” We’re returning to camp, and we’ll all watch our video clips to see where we can improve our coaching.
The NWF’s Technical Director, Christopher Nwadei, stated that the competition was extremely difficult and that many athletes from various countries had made significant progress.
“We thank God for the little preparation we did, and you should know that nearly 70 countries competed in the championships.”
“Everyone was in a good mood, there were no distractions, and we got there and did what we knew how to do best,” he said.
According to him, the Nigerian team won four of the ten gold medals at the Commonwealth qualifiers.
“At the World Championships, we won two silver and three bronze medals.”
“Stella Kingsley, competing in the 50kg category, won the gold medal.”
“In the 59 kg, Adijat Olarinoye won a gold medal in the Commonwealth qualifiers, a silver medal in the World Championships, and two bronze medals.”
“Joy Eze competed in the 71-kg category, winning a gold medal as well as a silver medal at the World Championships.”
Helen Idahosa, team coach and a Super Heavyweight Olympian in 2000, claimed she understood the game and what it needed to push a lifter to give his all.
“I know what it takes to motivate an athlete during a competition, and that’s exactly what I did,” she explained.
The IWF World Championships and Commonwealth Senior Championships, which began on December 7 and ended on December 17, were held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, according to NAN.
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