Nigeria’s female powerlifter, Latifat Tijani, won the country’s first gold medal at the Tokyo Paralympic Games, lifting 107kg to beat China’s Zhe Cui.
“I feel bad, because at home I was lifting 126, 127kg,” said Tijani after her performance.
“You can see it on my phone, when I was not able to lift 117 today it pained me.”
NIGERIA CLINCH AFRICA'S FIRST GOLD 🥇
Latifat Tijani powered her way to the continents medal at the Paralympic Games 🇳🇬#Tokyo2020 | #Paralympics
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) August 26, 2021
“It’s not that much weight, so I was not happy when I missed my first lift at 105kg,” said Tijani after failing on her first attempt.
In 2016, Tijani won a silver medal at the Rio Paralympic Games. She came second in the women’s 45kg category after lifting an impressive 106kg just a kilo behind China’s Hu Dandon, who set a new world record with her 107kg lift.
“I know that the Chinese lifters are very strong, but I promised myself that I would win my gold today. Ever since Rio 2016, when I took silver, that time I said that I would get the gold in Tokyo and I would collect it,” she concluded.
The 39-year-old ensured that Nigeria were the first African country to feature on the Paralympic medal table.
Photo 1 Caption: Nigeria’s powerlifter, Latifat Tijani, won the country’s first gold medal at the Tokyo Paralympic Games. Photo: Latifat Tijani (Twitter)
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