Countdown to Paris 2024: Adijat Olarinoye, a sure bet for an Olympic medal for Team Nigeria

Posted : 17 May 2023

The name Adijat Olarinoye, a superwoman in weightlifting, comes as a sure bet for an Olympic medal for Nigeria in the weightlifting event at the coming Paris 2024 Olympics. The 23-year-old Olarinoye's development in weightlifting can best be described as astronomical owing to her consistency and drive for medals in all competitions she has entered in Nigeria and on the international scene.

Just recently, Olarinoye qualified for Paris 2024 in grand style in Tunis, Tunisia, where she scooped an amazing 3 gold and 3 silver medals, respectively, at the 2023 Senior Africa Weightlifting Championship. The African Championship serves as the 2024 Olympics qualifier.

In the 59 kg category, Adijat claimed all three silver medals. Olarinoye, at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, claimed all three silver medals with a lift of 93 kg in snatch, 118 kg in Clean & Jerk, and 211 kg in total.

As she continues her impressive performances in the new category, Olarinoye moved from 55 kg in late 2022 to 59 kg. In her first competition in the new category at the 2022 National Sports Festival (NSF), she won three silver medals.

The Lagos-born talented sportswoman, Olarinoye, has previously won a silver medal and two bronze medals in the 55 kg event at the 2021 International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) in Uzbekistan, where she also emerged as the "Best Female Athlete."

Also in 2020, Olarinoye scooped three gold medals at the invitational Islamic Solidarity Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and followed it up with another three gold medals at the African Championships held in Kenya in 2021.

Olarinoye represented Nigeria at the 2019 African Games, which was her first ever appearance, and she surprised the bookmakers by claiming two gold medals and a silver in the women's 55 kg category.

Olarinoye is the recipient of an African record, which she broke and set a new one in the Clean & Jerk by lifting 116 kg in the 2019 African Games.

Olarinoye consolidated her status as one of the World Champions when, at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, she won two gold medals in style by setting a new game record of 92 kg in snatch and 203 kg in overall lifting.

Olarinoye began her road to stardom in weightlifting when she represented Oyo State at the National Sports Festival, after which she moved to Lagos State.

With such an impressive curriculum vitae at the international meets, Olarinoye remains a sure bet for a podium finish for Nigeria at the next Olympics to be hosted in Paris, France.

Countdown to Paris 2024: Adijat Olarinoye, a sure bet for an Olympic medal for Team Nigeria

ADD A COMMENT :

Hot Topics