NIGERIA’S athletes at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games have won more medals for the country. These wins have come from powerlifting, a sport in which the country’s athletes have been dominant.
Paul Kehinde who represented Nigeria in the 65kg men’s category outclassed his two closest rivals, China’s Peng Hu and Egypt’s Shaaban Ibrahim, to clinch the country’s second gold medal in the competition. He did this by lifting 218kg, about 18kg more than Hu, who finished second. Kehinde’s victory takes the number of medals collected by Team Nigeria at the games to four.
Ronald Ezuruike had on Friday won gold in the men’s 54kg powerlifting category, smashing the previous record for the category in the process. His win gave Nigeria its second medal in the games, following a silver delivered by Latifat Tijani who won a silver, also in powerlifting. On Saturday, it was the turn of Esther Oyema to have her say on the Nigeria’s medal tally. She secured a second silver medal by lifting 127kg, 3kg less than Mexico’s Amalia Perez’s record breaking lift.
