The Nigeria Weightlifting Federation (NWF), says it has selected five lifters to represent Nigeria at the 6th International Qatar Weightlifting Cup slated for between Dec. 19 and Dec. 24 in Doha.
NWF Technical Director, Christopher Nwadei, disclosed this while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja.
Nwadei said that the competition was one of the qualifiers for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
He said the lifters were-Augustina Nwaokolo 49 kg, Adenike Olarinoye 55 kg, Rafiatu Folashade Lawal 59 kg, Fatima Musa 76 kg and Emmanuel Appah 61 kg.
Nwadei said the lifters had been in camp at the Moshood Abiola Stadium since the beginning of December in preparation for the tournament promising to make the country proud at the event.
“We have been training morning and evening ahead of the competition, only five weightlifters will represent the country in Qatar.
“The team is determined to be among the first three positions at the end of the competition.
“The ministry and the federation have given us the necessary support for the team to put up a good performance and I’m sure the lifters will not disappoint,” he said.
The Technical Director said that the team would depart Nigeria on Dec.18 to Qatar for the tournament.
He said the team needed to secure valuable points that would make it qualify for the 2020 Olympics.
“The team will work hard to replicate its performance at the African Games in Morocco; we were the federation that gave the country the highest number of medals at the games.
“Weightlifting won 47 medals out of the 127 medals that the country won which was an outstanding performance.
“I am sure that the team will make the country proud again,” he said.
