Four women and two men will form Nigeria’s weightlifting contingent that is billed to travel to Moka, Mauritius today to participate in the 2025 African Weightlifting Championship holding between April 20th and 28th .
The delegation includes six elite weightlifters and two coaches, all poised to defend the country’s continental title.
The Women’s Weightlifters are: Onome Omolola Didih (55kg); Rafiatu Folashade Lawal (59kg); Ruth Imoleayo Ayodele (64kg) and Sarah Ovayioza Matthew (76kg).
Their men’s counterparts are Emmanuel Tuesday (67kg) and Edidiong Joseph Umoafia (73kg).
The President Nigeria Weightlifting Federation (NWF), Dr Ibrahim Abdul, said the Weightlifters the nation is presenting in Mauritius and those that will excel and help to maintain the country’s top position in Africa.
He said the coaches have done a meticulous work picking the best of the Weightlifters in camp to represent Nigeria and the result would be impressive in Mauritius.
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“This is championship the Weightlifters have prepared very well for and are ready to do Nigeria proud,” Abdul told NationSport. “We want to maintain our spot as the best in Africa and we have assembled weightlifters that can help us achieve that. We won’t disappoint the nation.
Nigeria enters the competition on the back of a dominant showing at the 2024 edition in Egypt.
In the last edition, Nigeria amassed an impressive haul of six gold and five silver medals. The team’s performance solidified Nigeria’s reputation as a weightlifting powerhouse on the continent.
The championships in Mauritius will serve as a critical benchmark for Nigeria’s ongoing preparations toward global competitions ranked by the International Weightlifting Federation.