By Goodluck Ikiebe
As the search for more medals intensify, Team Nigeria is set to shift its focus to the Para-powerlifting events of the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
The one day Para- powerlifting competition is expected to witness four finals later today with 40 athletes (20 Men and 20 Women) from 16 nations to battle things out.
The Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Dare, while commending Nigerian athletes for their doggedness at the Commonwealth Games so far, urged them to continue to ensure podium performances, noting that at Glasgow 2014 and Gold Coast 2018, Team Nigeria swept all the gold medals at stake.
According to World Para powerlifting, he said, the 2022 Commonwealth Games will be held in a specific format that includes different categories of weight in two female and male events.
This, he explained, was to ensure that everyone has a chance to win, as results will be calculated with a coefficient formula that will take into account the body weight and the lift attempt weight, thereby guaranteeing a fair competition between all the athletes inspite of the categories they come from.
He stated further that this point is important in relation to the athletes results, as for the first time at the Commonwealth Games, records can be established and recognised by World Para powerlifting.
Team Nigeria will be banking on Nnamdi Innocent, Thomas Kure, Ikechukwu Obichukwu, Ibrahim Abdulazeez, Omolara Bose, Folashade Oluwafemiayo, Latifat Tijani and Mark Onyinyechi to deliver the goods.
