The winner of Nigeria’s first gold medal of the ongoing Paralympic games in Tokyo, Japan was quite emotional while speaking to pressmen immediately after her podium finish.
Tijani Latifat said, “I’m so happy and glad for what I just achieved. I promised to bring home the gold and I thank God for helping me bring this gold home this year.
“I am dedicating this Gold medal to my humble and hardworking coach who is always pushing and motivating me.
He keeps me on my toes and makes me stay focused.”
Team Nigeria has begun its medal honours in the ongoing Paralympics Games 2020 in Tokyo, Japan, as Latifat Tijani made the country’s first gold medal podium finish on Thursday.
The 39-year-old athlete took the gold in the women’s 45kg powerlifting by defeating China’s Zhe Cui to lift 107kg and finish ahead of the competition. She adds this gold to the one she won at the Brazzaville Africa Games in 2015.
Tijani, who also finished the Paralympics at Rio de Janeiro with a silver medal in 2016, is also competing for another straight gold medal on Thursday in the women’s 45kg event.
The gold medal finish for Tijani is the fulfillment of a lifelong ambition for the athlete after a dedicated and resilient focus on achieving her dreams of Olympic glory. In a 2018 interview, when asked what her ambitions were for the future, she had declared: “To win gold at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo.”
It was not the same for her fellow powerlifting compatriot, Team Nigeria’s Yakubu Adesokan. The Paralympian missed a podium finish in men’s 49kg Powerlifting, finishing in fourth place with his best lift of 155kg.
In his final attempt to displace Azerbaijan’s Parvin Mammadov, who had lifted 156kg, from the bronze medal spot, it was beyond Adesokan to lift and he fell out of contention for medals. He could not add to the gold medals he had won in 2012 at the London Paralympics and at the World Para Powerlifting Championships two years after.
Meanwhile, Team Nigeria’s para -table Tennis duo, Tajudeen
Agunbiade and Ahmed Koleosho qualified for the quarter finals of their respective events yesterday.
Both ping -pongers showed grit and determination to displace their opponents and brighten their chances of picking a medal at the Paralympic Games.
Tajudeen Agunbiade dug deep to edge out his difficult Chinese counterpart 3-2 in the Men’s Singles Table Tennis preliminaries while Ahmed Koleosho, another highly rated Team Nigeria entrant had a smoother ride beating his Ukrainian rival 3-1 to book his spot in the quarter finals.
