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Record-lifter Lawal dedicates gold to Nigerians

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Rafiat Lawal has dedicated her  weightlifting gold medals to Nigerians, adding the  overwhelming support she got  was the tonic as she snatched victory in the women’s 59 kg event.

Lawal threw the weightlifting arena into frenzy after she set a new competition in the snatch as well as clean and jerk of the women’s 59kg at the ongoing 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

“I am so excited about winning the gold at the Commonwealth Games because I never expected it but I believe my training paid off with the result,”  an elated Lawal told NationSport. “I dedicate this medal to Nigerians for their support and I hope to add the Olympic gold medal to this. I must also commend the support of my teammates.”

Incidentally, captain of the weightlifting team Adijat Olarinoye had  earlier set another competition record in the women’s 55kg to claim Nigeria’s first gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.


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But Lawal beat all other competitors in the snatch after lifting 90kg to set a new competition record.

She returned to the stage to set another record in the clean and jerk when she lifted 116kg to set another record to the admiration of the fans.

“I think this is a result of good training that the team had before the games. I look forward to more medals in the next two days of the competition,” President of the Nigeria Weightlifting Federation (NWF), Abdul Ibrahim, noted.

In a related development,  Team Nigeria is leading Africa’s medal chase at the 2022 Commonwealth Games with two gold and one bronze medal to occupy seventh place on the overall medal table.

Both Olarinoye and Rafiat Lawal claimed gold medals for Nigeria in the women’s 55kg and 59 kg   weightlifting event respectively while Edidiong Umoafia settled for bronze in the men’s 67 kg to improve the total medals to three.

South Africa is the second best African team with two gold medals while Uganda is third with one gold.

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Meanwhile, African teams are looking forward to the athletics events to get more medals as the tournament enters its sixth day.

Wills😎

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