Paris 2024: Nigeria’s Weightlifter, Rafiatu Lawal starts medal hunt in Women’s 59kg on Thursday

Nigeria’s Weightlifters at the ongoing Paris 2024 Olympic Games will begin the chase for medals on Thursday, August 8th, 2024, when Rafiatu Lawal files out in the Women’s 59 kg weight class at the South Paris Arena inside Paris Expo Complex.

Rafiatu got the nod to represent Nigeria in Paris after she qualified, having garnered the needed points in various Championships she attended,aand she marked her Olympic debut; she carries the aspirations and hope of other Nigerians who expect her to give a good account of herself in Paris.

Lawal, a 27-year-old lifter, was twice African Champion at the African Games in 2019 and 2023 in Morocco and Ghana, and she’s also a Commonwealth Games champion in Birmingham in 2022.

All eyes will be on her from 2 pm on Thursday as she confronts 10 other weightlifters from around the globe to compete for the Olympic Games medals at stake in the Women’s 59kg.

The Weightlifter will be up against the reigning Olympic champion in the weight class, 30-year-old Chinese Taipel’s Chun Hsing Kuo. Kuo also won a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

Shifang Luo of China, who at just 23 years old is the current World Record Holder in the weight class with a lift of 248kg, is another strong competitor against the Nigerian. She’s making her Olympics debut and has come with so much promise, while another 2021 Olympic Games Gold medallist in the Women’s 64kg, Charron Maude of Canada, is another lifter to be on the lookout for.

Others to compete against Lawal are Ann Elreen Ando (Philippines), Anyelin Venegas (Venezuela), Lucrezia Magistris (Italy), Yenny Alvarez (Colombia), Mathlynn Sasser (Marshall Islands), Kamila Konotop (Ukraine), Dora Tchakoute (France), and Mexican’s Valdivia Gomez.

Lawal told NWF Media that she hopes to make the most of her Olympics debut and that she’s ready to give her all in her determined zeal to make a lasting impression in Paris in all her lifts.

She said she’s in high spirits and turbocharged to ensure Nigeria ranks among the best in the Women’s 59kg at the end of Thursday when results are out.

“I have prepared very well for this and am eager to give my best in Paris, France. The Nigeria Weightlifting Federation, under the able leadership of Dr. Ibrahim Abdul, started a good job camping us before the Ministry of Sports took over, and it is my wish to do my best in the competition,” Lawal told NWF Media.

“It is my Olympic Games debut but I am not greenhorn because I have taken part in many competitions that have equipped me for moments like this. I am going to the competition with the high hopes of giving my all to defend my fatherland.”

The President of Nigeria Weightlifting Federation (NWF), Dr. Ibrahim Abdul, charged Lawal to imbibe Nigeria’s I can do spirit while also charging her to recall the techniques that have worked for her in her preparations for the Olympic Games.

The NWF President nonetheless urged her to go all out and aspire to finish in the medal zone.

He said the NWF is solidly behind her and beckoned on her to mark her Olympics debut with the performance that would be the talking point for years to come.

“We in the NWF know what Rafiatu can do, and we are solidly behind her as she competes in the Women’s 59kg on Thursday. We have prepared her and her second for the Olympic Games in the best way possible and we expect her to give a good account of herself in Paris, France,” the NWF President said.

Dr. Abdul urged Nigerians to support both weightlifters especially Rafiatu Lawal who compete first on Thursday afternoon.