Team Nigeria claimed another set of medals at the ongoing 13th African Games in Accra, Ghana, as Edidiong Joseph Umoafia won three gold medals in weightlifting on Monday.
The Nigerian national record holder dominated the men’s 67kg event, lifting 135kg in the snatch and 165kg in the clean and jerk, for a total lift of 300kg.
ONE PERSON…THREE GOLD MEDALS!! ????????????
Edidiong Joseph Umofia raised the bar for Team Naija at the #AfricanGames2023, starting the day on a good note winning 3 GOLD medals in men’s Weightlifting 67kg.
Umofia came clutch, and was the overall best, lifting:
Snatch – 135kg… pic.twitter.com/TQ7NCv5gKQ— Making of Champions (@MakingOfChamps) March 11, 2024
In the 67kg Snatch, Umoafia beat Tunisia’s Salem Ayoub, who finished in second place and lifted 129kg, and Algeria’s Chekhchoukh Akram (128kg) in third to finish on top.
For the Clean and Jerk category, he saw off the two North African stars, but this time, Akram finished in second after lifting 151kg and Ayoub in third with a 146kg lift.
Umoafia’s dominance took Nigeria’s gold medal count to ten at the African Games following Sunday’s triumph in the men’s badminton singles event and clean sweep in women’s wrestling.