Folashade Oluwafemiayo has won a gold medal for Team Nigeria in the women’s heavyweight powerlifting event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Folashade broke the world record on Thursday after lifting 130kg, 150kg and 155kg to score a cumulative 123.4 points.
Nigeria won the gold and silver medals in the event, with Bose Omolayo finishing second behind her compatriot. Omolayo lifted 145kg and scored 115.2 points to get on the podium.
Watson Hani of Australia clinched the bronze medal.
In 2012, Oluwafemiayo won silver medal in the women’s 75kg category at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, breaking the world record in the process. She also won gold medal at the 2017 World Para Powerlifting Championships in Mexico. However, she was suspended a year later for breaking anti-doping laws.
In 2021, she won the gold medal in her event at the 2021 World Para Powerlifting Championships held in Tbilisi, Georgia. At this event, she also set a new world record of 152.5 kg.
The 37-year-old was born in Jos, and is married to a male paralympic, with whom she has a child.
