Ex-serviceman injured in Iraq wins gold in cycling at Paralympics

TEAM Nigeria yesterday shot into the lead as the best African country at the on-going Paralympic Games in Rio with three of her athletes winning three more gold medals in the powerlifting and shot put events to bring her total to seven.

As of morning of Monday, September 12, Ukrainian team got 49 medals: 18 gold, 13 silver and 18 bronze.

She kept her form throughout backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle to beat her own world record from the London 2012 Paralympic Games by over half a second in time of 2:24.90.

With Nwosu’s latest feat, Team Nigeria now has five gold medals and is ninth on the overall medals’ log.

The Nigerian lifted 142 kg, which gave her not just the Paralympics record, but also a new world mark.

Nigeria has been more successful at the Paralympics than it has been at the Olympics. Nigeria’s Paralympians have already outshone their Olympic counterparts.

Earlier in the day, Ndidi Nwosu also won gold in the women’s powerlifting.

The Economic Times points out this was the case even at the last Olympics/Paralympics-HN Girisha, who won a silver medal, was treated as a sideshow to those who excelled at the Olympics.

Latifat Tijani and Esther Onyema won Silver medals.

China’s Lei Liu took Gold with a lift of 221kg, smashing the Paralympic Record and World Record, while Iraq’s Rasool Mohsin clinched Silver with a lift of 220kg.