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Oluwafemiayo clinches gold, Obiji wins silver for Team Nigeria

Her victory in Tokyo is a significant improvement on her performance four years ago

Team Nigeria Paralympics powerlifting team has continued to churn out medals as Folashade Oluwafemiayo and Loveline Obiji Monday won gold and silver respectively.

The 36–year old Oluwafemiiayo who competed in the 86kg won in a spectacular manner as she did not only win gold but set a new world as well as Paralympics record with a lift of 152kg.

Her victory in Tokyo is a significant improvement on her performance four years ago when she won silver at the Rio Paralympics in Brazil.

For her resounding victory in Tokyo, Oluwafemiayo lifted 147kg in her first attempt and 149kg in the second attempt which set her on the way to victory.

She then  registered a competition-winning third lift of 151kg, before using a fourth and final power lift to set a new world mark of 152kg.

Oluwafemiayo’s dominant performance consumed the chasing pack as the ambitious Chinese opponent, Zheng Feifei eventually settled for second position with a lift of 139kg.

Great Britain’s Louise Sugden’s lift of 13kg could only land her third place finish for a bronze medal.

Before Oluwafemiayo’s golden performance, Loveline Obiji who competes in the +86kg category had won Nigeria’s first silver medal at the Tokyo Paralympics.

She recorded her best lift of 147kg to settle for second position and a second silver medal at the Paralympics.

It will be recalled that Obiji once enjoyed a brief reign as gold medallist at the 2016 Rio Paralympics when Randa Mahmoud’s world record lift was rejected but when the Egyptian appealed, she won back both the gold and the world record.

As a result, the Nigerian powerlifter ended Rio Paralympics with a silver medal.

With another gold and silver medal in their kitty, Team Nigeria has amassed three gold, one silver and two bronze medals to move up from 27th position to 21st on the overall medals table.

The 2020 Tokyo Paralympics Games which started on August 24 will end on September 5.

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