TheCable

Nigeria emerged the overall winner of the 2019 Lagos World Para Powerlifting Invitational Championships held at Oriental Hotel in Lagos.

The host country won all the 20 gold medal on offer to assert its world dominance in the sport.

Nigeria also won 15 silver and seven bronze medals, making it a total of 42 medals in all as the competition ended.

Cote d’ Ivoire and Cameroon also registered their names on the medals table clinching three bronze medals each, while Ghana went home with two bronze medals.

Other countries that participated in the championship were Guinea, Tanzania and Mali.

Reacting to the athletes performance, Feyisetan Are, national coach of the Nigeria Para Powerlifting team, told NAN that he was elated by the athletes’ performance.

Are said he did not expect anything less from the athletes, while commending them for doing the country proud.

“I am happy with what my athletes have been able to achieve on home soil, they all performed excellently well,” he said.

“I remember that sometimes last year, i vowed that we are going to host and win this competition and I thank God that it has come to reality.”

The coach said efforts will be made by the federation to develop the rising talents who took part in the championship.

He said: “I must say that the future of powerlifting in Nigeria is bright, the upcoming athletes really proved their worth in the championships and we will continue to nurture them to stardom.

“We have world class equipment to train them and we will expose them to more international competitions.”

The championships which began on January 28 is an International Paralympic Committee event.