African Champion, Omolola Didih of Lagos State and Ruth Nyong of Rivers State were the outstanding performers of Day 2 of the weightlifting event at the ongoing Ogun 2024 National Sports Festival.
Both weightlifters put up impressive performances to win four gold medals and two silvers for their states in the women’s 49kg and 55kg categories.
In the Women’s 49kg class, Nyong won two gold and one silver medal.
She lifted 75kg to claim gold in the snatch and got the second gold in her total lift of 167kg.
Nyong originally from Akwa Ibom State handed Rivers State additional silver medal with her 92kg lift in the Clean & Jerk.
In the same weight class, Ebele Chukwu Vanessa Agbah of Delta State bagged gold in the Clean & Jerk with her 93kg lift and a Silver medal with her lift of 164kg.
Also, Quadri Zainab of Lagos grabbed a silver with her lift of 72kg while Adamma Dorcas Anyimba of Kano got a bronze with her lift of 71kg.
The same Anyimba also got a bronze medal with her total lift of 157kg.
Monica Uweh of Ogun State finished with a bronze medal in the Clean & Jerk with her 88kg lift.
In the Women’s 55kg, Didih won two gold medals in the snatch and total with her lifts of 93kg and 205kg in that order.
She was however beaten in the Clean & Jerk by determined Theresa Okon of Akwa Ibom State who lifted 113kg to win the gold medal.
Didih finished a kilogram behind for a silver and her third medal.
Temidayo Jegede of Kano claimed two silver and a bronze medal to add to the pyramids’ state’s medals’ haul.
She lifted 77kg in the snatch and 175kg total lift for her two silver medals before her bronze in the Clean & Jerk with a lift of 98kg.
Joy Chima from Lagos got the remaining two bronze medals with her lifts of 71kg and 168kg in the snatch and total.
Meanwhile, 2023 African Games Gold medallist, King Kalu of Cross River State and Esther Chijoke of Invited Junior Athletes (IJA) bagged five gold medals combined for their states in the men’s 55kg.
In the Men’s 55kg, Kalu secured three gold medals for Cross River with a total lift of 215kg comprising of 94kg lift in snatch and 121kg lift in Clean & Jerk.
Elechi Elvis of Bayelsa State won a silver medal in the snatch with a lift of 93kg, while Abayomi Adeleye of Ekiti State got the bronze medal in the snatch with 92kg.
Tobi Ishola of Oyo claimed a silver in the Clean & Jerk with a lift of 118kg and he got a further bronze medal in the total with 206kg.