The National Sports Commission (NSC) has applauded Didih Onome Omolola for winning Nigeria’s first gold medal in the women’s 53kg at the ongoing Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships in Ahmedabad, India on Tuesday.
This follows Ruth Nyong Asuquo’s silver medal victory in the 48kg junior women category on Monday.
An elated NSC chairman, Mallam Shehu Dikko, said he believed that with Onome’s golden lift, the floodgate of medals for Team Nigeria has been opened.
“This championship will serve as qualifiers for the Commonwealth Games next year, meaning that it’s imperative to excel so as to earn the right to participate at the Games next year. It’s for this reason that we ensured there is a dedicated budget line in the Appropriation Act to support this process, which was gratuitously approved by Mr. President .
“This has guaranteed some level of stability for the qualifiers and preparations for these major events like the Olympics and Commonwealth Games well ahead of time, so there is no excuse this time.
“Weightlifting has always been our sport of comparative advantage and we are expecting a harvest of gold medals beginning with Onome. We have been keeping tabs with the contingent in India and getting regular updates just like we do with all our contingents in international duties. This same contingent finished top at the African Weightlifting Championship in Mauritius earlier this year so they can be termed African champions,” Dikko stated.
Similarly, NSC Director-General, Hon. Bukola Olopade, expressed optimism that Team Nigeria will bring more glory from India.
“I was with this team in Mauritius when they won the African Championships and I can vouch for them. We have a generation of podium performers in the current weightlifting set-up and the Commonwealth Championship is another platform for them to conquer the world,” he said.
LEADERSHIP reports that Commonwealth Senior, Junior and Youth Weightlifting Championship is being held in India from August 20 to 30.
