Josephine Orji was at the top of her career almost seven years ago when she won two gold medals and world record lift in the 86+kg at the 2016 Paralympics in Rio, Brazil. Here, she reminisced how she dazzled the world and her effort at coming back after a long-layoff due to injury, TUNDE LIADI writes
Josephine Precious Orji’s interest in powerlifting came in naturally after she summoned up the boldness to visit a gym in Owerri, Imo State more than two decades ago.
It was there she had her first lift and her desire to take up the sport as a career was like love at first sight.
Orji who is now a notable Nigerian power lifter, Paralympic champion and world record holder recounted that she lost the use of her legs following a bout of polio as a child.
Yet the 44-year-old didn’t allow this unfortunate setback to define her future and with determination, natural talent, hard work and some support from state and the federal governments saw her reach her peak at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio, Brazil.
In Para-powerlifting, competitors lie on their backs to push the weights above themselves.
Orji was encouraged by a powerlifting coach, Lucky Ibe and his influence played a major role in making her discovered her path in life.
“Coach Lucky One told me, I would be a champion, and that I’d get on a plane, travel the world to international competitions’,” Orji disclosed. “I couldn’t sleep; I was carrying those weights in my dream that night, so I went back home and quit my job and I started training.”
The then 22-year-old was so determined to make a success of her new-found passion that she walked away from her job the very next day.
She had been working as a computer expert in a cyber-cafe, a job she claimed she was good at, enjoyed and was a popular member of the team. But with power lifting, it was the beginning of a career that would see her achieve the heights she was determined to reach.
Her highlight so far was winning gold at the 2016 Paralympics in Rio with a world record lift of 160kg in the 86+kg. It has not been better since then.
“I felt like walking that day, leaving that wheelchair to walk with my legs,” she recalled recently in an interview with the BBC Sports
“People from other countries were jubilating, holding me, asking me to take pictures with them, asking for my shirt, and to sign autographs on their face or anywhere.
“I remembered all these popular musicians – I felt like them, that night I could not sleep.”
Orji’s category in Rio was one of the final events and her gold was Team Nigeria’s eighth of the Games and sixth in Para-powerlifting to match the six they won in the sport four years earlier.
Orji’s gold medal did not come easy, instead it involved an intense training camp with the Nigerian Para-Powerlifting Federation.
“We were in camp for six months, we were training like soldiers, my body was strong like stone,” she explained. “We were being taken care of and paid due allowances for the duration, the atmosphere was really positive.”
While some Nigerian teams and athletes have to protest and organise strikes in order to be paid their bonuses for their international success, Orji was one of the lucky ones.
After the games the then Governor of Imo, Rochas Okorocha not only lauded the teams achievements but also ensured they were rewarded financially too.
That support extends beyond just rewarding success as the state effectively employed a number of its able-bodied and disabled to allow them to train all year-round.
Since that golden moment things have not been plain sailing for Orji. She missed winning a second World Championships in Mexico 2017 as she gave birth to her second child.
With just one athlete being chosen in each category for international events that meant her position as the country’s representative hangs in the balance.
“I was under pressure from the federation and coaches to come back as soon as possible, despite my medical report, it was like no one was listening,” she explained. “I lost some strength, I did not enjoy my maternity leave because I had to get back three months after, I was bleeding at times during training.
“But somehow it wasn’t enough, I am still struggling, I get sick sometimes, and I never got sick before.”
She overcame those struggles to establish herself as number one choice again and represented Nigeria at the 2019 World Para Powerlifting Championships in Kazakhstan, which also doubled as a qualifier for the Tokyo Paralympics.
However things did not go to plan after an error from the team manager left her struggling to challenge for the title.
He mistakenly told officials that her first lift would be a relatively modest 125kg, meaning she would be lifting in Group B with the lower-ranked athletes.
With a limited number of lifts permitted it meant she was not able to react to the totals that other competitors lifted successfully.
“My name was showing on the scoreboard as a World Record holder, yet I was stuck in Group B, which was so disappointing, I didn’t want to compete,” she said. “But I needed to maintain my position despite the fact that when a champion is defeated, it is shameful.
“For the first time in life I came back empty handed, it was a disgrace to me.
“But I am doing this for my name and my children will know their mother kept giving her all.”
Orji’s biggest lift of 143kg was 17 kilos lighter than her world record and was only good enough for fourth place, the first tournament has returned home from without a medal.
She in fact lifted the same weight as Egypt’s bronze medallist Randa Mahmoud, who was given the podium place as she has the lower body weight.
Her lift was enough to qualify her for the postponed Tokyo Paralympics, which are now set for 2021 due to the global Covid-19 pandemic; however she was unable to attend because of the tendon injury she sustained.
She is still carrying the injury that has not made her perform to her level for more than three years.
Orji said only a surgery can help her return to her former self and will like the Imo State Government to come to her aid with the injury sustained while training in camp in Owerri.
“I do not believe in ‘what will be will be’, we have to stand and work for what we want, I will not quit until I reach the peak of the sport again.
“I got the injury while training in Owerri and not while in the national team camp. I am calling on the Imo Government to come to my aid. I still want to compete.
“I know I can still reclaim the position I got at the Rio Paralympic Games with the right environment and working conditions.
“If I am at my best again, you can see the best of me,” she said.