Sydney 2000 Olympic silver medallists, Ruth Ogbeifo-Balofin says she intends producing weightlifters who will win medals for Nigeria at the Olympic Games.
The 2002 Commonwealth Games champion is the founder of Ruth Ogbeifo-Balofin Community Project (ROBCOP) in Offa, Kwara state.
Ogbeifo-Balofin told www.aclsports.com that her dreams remain to nurture female weightlifter who will shatter her records.
The Lagos born lifter said the choice of taking her pet project to Offa was due to the impact the community played a vital role in her career.
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Ogbeifo-Balofin said, “My noble intention is to train and mentor weightlifter who will win medals for the country not only at African Championships but Commonwealth and Olympic Games. There are strong young girls who are capable of making the nation proud but all they need it the enabling environment.
“What I intending doing to capture some of these girls with raw strength and convert them into refined lifters; that is why I have a center in Offa. Offa is a big community where we have influential personalities who love weightlifting. One of the missions is to make sure the sport is back, the athletes train and produce lifters that will beat my record”.
She revealed that with proper encouragement, the lifter will have take over the world.
The former African champion said, “We are currently utilising St Claire (a girls only school in Offa) and I am optimistic that with proper encouragement, the athletes will be taken from the grassroots to stardom.
“For record purposes, one of the first set of the program made Nigeria proud at the 2019 African Games in Morocco and we hope to consistently produce more champions”
Ogbeifo–Balofin said due to acceptance of weightlifting in Offa, a hall has been given to train boys and girls.
She said, “A hall has been given to us in Offa Grammar School and we intend equipping the school by the end of the month in order to train boys and girls”.
