Jubilation as Team Nigeria clinches 3rd gold medal at the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games

Jubilation as Team Nigeria clinches 3rd gold medal at the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games

Oluwatomiwa Babalola
updated at April 12, 2023 at 7:48 PM
  • Folashade Oluwafemiayo has clinched Team Nigeria's third gold medal at the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games
  • The Jos-born powerlifter emerged victorious in the women's 86kg powerlifting beating, China's Zheng Feifei and Louise Sugden to the prestigious prize
  • Oluwafemiayo also set a new World Record with a lift of 152kg after surpassing her previous record of 150.5kg

Team Nigeria currently ranks 21st on the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games table with three gold and two bronze medals so far in the events.

Folashade Oluwafemiayo became the latest from the West African country to win a gold medal after triumphing in the women's 86kg powerlifting with a lift of 152kg.

The 36-year-old Jos-born weightlifter didn't just win the prestigious prize in her category, she equally surpassed her previous World Record (WR) of 150.5kg.

Jubilation as Team Nigeria clinches 3rd gold medal at the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games
Folashade Oluwafemiayo celebrates her victory after winning a gold medal at this year's Paralympic Games. Photo by Shaun Botterill
Source: Getty Images

All Nigeria's medals so far at the quadrennial competition have come from powerlifting while others from the other events are hoping to follow suit.

According to Kick 442, Folashade has been in the powerlifting business since 1999 and three years later, she clinched a silver medal in the 75kg category at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London.

She has made appearances at the World Championships twice before claiming her first career gold this year.

Why Folashade Oluwafemiayo was banned in 2013

Oluwafemiayo has had her own challenges in the sport after she was banned for two years after testing positive for furosemide at the 2013 World Cup event in Dubai

That took the gold medal she won in the 79kg category at the event away from and her world record lift of 125kg was also voided.

How many medals did Nigeria win at Tokyo 2020 Games?

Legit.ng earlier reported that Team Nigeria had a slightly better outing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games after winning two medals compared to their participation at the 2016 edition of the games.

Ese Brume won a bronze medal for the country in the women's long jump event while Blessing Oborududu claimed the silver medal from the 68kg wrestling women’s freestyle.

This however made the country finish 74th on the overall medals table while ranking eighth-best among the 54 African nations that participated at the Games.

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Oluwatomiwa Babalola
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