Former African champion, David Adeyemo said his motherland Nigeria does not have plan for the country’s weightlifters. Adeyemo who now lifts for the United States of America (USA) said lifters are abandoned immediately they return from tournaments to Nigeria.
He said, “It’s obvious that the country does not have plans for her weightlifters, it’s only soccer that interest them. I can count the number of successful weightlifters in Nigeria because they are few”.
“I represented Nigeria at the 2008 Commonwealth Championships in South Africa, 2010 African championship in Egypt where I won a gold medal, 2011 Commonwealth Championships in South Africa where I won another gold medal, at the Africa Championships in Uganda I won a gold medal again and at the 2012 London Olympics qualification in Nairobi”.
“I attended three National Sports Festivals of which I won gold at the Eko 2012 festival”, he told aclsports.com.
He said, “Fortunately for me, I became a national team coach for the Kenya weightlifting team, taking athletes like Stephen Opondo, James Adede, Webstar Lukose, Arthur Oyim and Mercy Obiero to the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. Under my tutelage Obiero improved from 80 kg snatch to 87 kg and 106 kg jerk to 117 kg”, he said.
The US lifter who is preparing for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics added that he attended a pre national trials early 2018.
“I was at the Armour classics, which is a pre nationals for me. The meet helped me put in my scores for the Nationals. I also participated at the Nike series 1 in March at Columbus, Ohio state to prepare for Olympic qualifications with Team USA”.
