By Sulaimon Jamiu
It was a moment of excitement as Adijat Adenike Olarinoye, on Saturday, bagged Nigeria’s first gold medal at the ongoing 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
She set a new record of 203kg to win gold in the women’s 55kg weightlifting event, beating India’s Bindyarani Sorokhaibam and England’s Fraer Morrow to the prestigious prize.
It was far from an easy victory for the Nigerian, who almost let gold slip through her fingers after the Nigerian technical crew made a conservative decision on her lifts, which could have cost her the gold.
After lifting 110kg on her second attempt, the Nigerian lifter went for 111kg, and luckily for her, her opponents did not capitalize, allowing her to win the event. The Nigerian officials’ call may have appeared to be a gamble at the time, but they were probably managing her body strength after two consecutive lifts with little rest.
Olarinoye set the tone early, breaking two Games Records in the Snatch category in a span of 10 minutes after lifting 90kg and 92kg. She attempted 93kg on her final Snatch attempt but failed, but she was the only athlete to lift a weight over 90kg, giving her a 3kg advantage going into the Clean and Jerk.
In another category of the same event, Stella Kingsley, 19, narrowly missed the podium in women’s 49kg weightlifting, finishing fourth with a combined lift of 170kg. Kingsley came so close to winning a medal, missing out on the Silver medal by only 2kg and the Bronze medal by 1kg.
Overall, Nigeria had a successful day at the Games. The men’s Table Tennis team advanced to the team event quarterfinals, and the women’s team came close to advancing as well, losing 3-2 to England side.
