On Sunday, 38-year-old Nigerian weightlifter, Lucy Ejike reigned supreme at the women’s -61kg powerlifting event. “Ejike first broke the Paralympic record by lifting 136kg before subsequently adding lifts of 138kg and 142kg to seal the world record and hand Nigeria with their third gold medal of the Games,” reports UK media, Independent.
Apparently, Ejike’s recording breaking feat on Sunday was the third in a row of successive wins from 2004 Paralympics Athens and the 2008 Games in Beijing.
That same day, Josephine Orji, another female powerlifter from Nigeria set a new world and games record in the +86kg powerlifting event. Orji’s lift of 160kg set a new world record winning Nigeria’s eighth gold medal at the Paralympic Games in Rio.
Although Nigerian powerlifters are clearly dominating at the Games, Lauritta Onye’s shot put throw of 8.40m on Sunday night broke a world record increasing the number of gold medals for Nigeria. On Tuesday, Nigerian javelin thrower, Flora Ugwunwa set a world record in the women’s javelin F54 event.
With the way Nigeria's Paralympics team is performing,got me wondering if they could represent us at the next Olympics. cc @KraksTV
— Babayeju Jide (@jidde_) September 12, 2016
In the last five Paralympic Games, from 1996 to 2012, Nigerian Paralympians have fared better than their Olympic counterparts, bringing home more medals. Apparently, it’s the same story this year. Currently, the country has a total of 11 medals; eight gold, two silver and one bronze, a distant cry from the single bronze medal won by Nigeria’s football team at the recently concluded Olympic Games.
As noted by the BBC, Nigeria’s Paralympic team is currently 10th on the medal table and top among African countries, whereas at the end of last month’s event, the country’s Olympic team were joint 78th.
