The first weightlifting academy in Nigeria will be opened by former world champion and Olympian, Coach Emmanuel Oshomah, to help raise the standard of what Nigeria-born athletes are able to achieve.
Today, an Olympic weightlifting Academy will be launching in Auchi, Edo state.
Oshomah, an ex-Olympian from Edo State, wants to pursue weightlifting and coach athletes at a world class level. “This is to make Nigeria known and respected as a foremost weightlifting nation, just as Cuba is known for boxing, and Jamaica in the world of athletics,” he said.
Speaking further, Oshomah, who recently retired as weightlifting coach said; “Permit me to inform His Excellency that Nigeria has dominated Weightlifting in Africa since the early 1980s, but is yet to replicate this at the world level. By now, Nigeria should be consistent on the Olympic podium. The defunct Bendel was a leading weightlifting state in Nigeria, a position that was maintained by Edo and Delta State. That is what gives birth to this private initiative to situate the Academy in Auchi.”
Oshomah won gold and silver medals, set a new African record as well as represented Nigeria at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and the 1987 All African Games.
