Olarinoye lifted 203kg in the 55kg category to win the gold ahead of India’s Bindayareni and England’s Morrow who won Silver and bronze respectively
Kehinde Okeowo
Nigeria’s female weightlifter, Adijat Olarinoye has become the first athlete to win a medal for the country after claiming gold at the ongoing Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, United Kingdom.
The weightlifter who competed in the 55kg category, lifted a combined total of 203kg to win the gold medal ahead of other competitors at the event.
India’s Devi Bindayareni came a close second after lifting 202kg to win the Silver medal, while English woman Fraer Morrow came third, lifting a total of 198kg to win the Bronze medal.
Olarinoye lifted 92kg in the snatch and 111kg in the clean and jerk to lift a total of 203kg to win the gold medal and earned 2 new Games Records in snatch and overall lifting in the process.
ALSO READ: Liverpool put 3 past Man City to win Community Shield
She had earlier won a silver medal in the women’s 55 kg event at the 2021 World Weightlifting Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
The 23-year-old also represented Nigeria at the 2019 African Games which is also her maiden African Games appearance and won 3 medals including two gold medals in the women’s 55 kg weightlifting event.
She claimed gold medals in women’s 55 kg and 55 kg clean jerk events along with a silver in the 55 kg snatch event where she narrowly missed the gold medal to fellow compatriot Chika Amalaha.
Olarinoye created a new African record in weightlifting in the clean and jerk category by lifting 116 kg during the 2019 African Games.