Team Lagos Wins First Gold In Weightlifting

By Saheed Afolabi

Team Lagos has secured its first gold medal at the 22nd National Sports Festival in Ogun State, with Ronke Olarinoye dominating the 45kg women’s weightlifting event on Sunday.

Olarinoye delvered a stellar performance in the women’s snatch, lifting an impressive 65kg. This winning lift put her ahead of Esther Amarachi Chijioke of the Invited Junior Athletes, who managed 64kg, and Christiana Allorima of Rivers, who earned bronze with a 61kg snatch.

The gold medal was clinched at 12:57 pm, and it’s highly probable that Olarinoye’s victory marks the very first medal of the 2024 National Sports Festival.

This is pending official confirmation from the Main Organizing Committee, as other medal events also unfolded on Sunday.

Weightlifting commenced at the NYSC Orientation camp in Sagamu. Simultaneously, other events like Kung Fu, deaf badminton, and badminton also kicked off in Ikenne and Abeokuta, respectively.