GOLD
Abdulazeez Ibrahim (NGR)
SILVER
Rajinder Rahelu (IND)
BRONZE
Jong Yee Khie (MAS)
Abdulazeez Ibrahim (NGR) ensured that Nigeria took all four powerlifting golds at the Glasgow 2014 as he won the men’s heavyweight competition ahead of Rajinder Rahelu (IND) in silver and Jong Yee Khie (MAS) of Malaysia in bronze.
The world No. 1 in the up to 97kg category was assured of victory when his first bench press of 217kg at Clyde Auditorium on Saturday gave him 190.9 points using the AH formula which takes bodyweight into account.
The 35-year-old finished with a lift of 224kg for a points total of 197. It followed earlier victories for Paul Kehinde (NGR) in the men’s lightweight, Loveline Obiji (NGR) in the women’s heavyweight, and Esther Oyema (NGR) in the women’s lightweight.
Rahelu, 41, became the first Indian man to win a Commonwealth Games powerlifting medal with a heaviest lift of 185kg and points total of 180.5. YEE KHIE succeeded with all three of his lifts, the 25-year-old finishing with 206kg and 178 points.
Michael Yule (SCO), 35, had the chance to take Scotland’s first Commonwealth Games medal in powerlifting but his bid for bronze ended when he failed on his final attempt of 183kg. He finished fourth on 177kg and 172.9 points.
Nigeria’s six medals at Glasgow 2014 gives it a Commonwealth Games total of 14, eight of them gold. The men have five gold and the women have three. No other country has more than two medals.
What the athletes said…
Abdulazeez Ibrahim (NGR) – gold
On winning the gold medal and his form:
“I felt fine today. I’m very happy to pick up the gold – I had very good lifts.”
On his future plans:
“I have to get back home quickly to train for Rio.”
Rajinder Rahelu (IND) – silver
On the first thing he will do after winning the silver medal:
“I’m proud to be in Glasgow. I’m going to be calling my mum as soon as possible, she will be very happy for me.”
Jong Yee Khie (MAS) – bronze
On his achievement in Glasgow:
“This is the first time I have won a medal and I enjoyed doing it very much.”
On his time at Glasgow 2014:
“I like Glasgow a lot and I couldn’t have been happier to have won my medal here.”
Michael Yule (SCO)
On competing against far heavier lifters than himself and finishing fourth:
“I’ve come into the land of the giants there. My last lift put the other guy (the bronze-medal winner, Jong Yee Khie, MAS) under pressure, but it just wasn’t to be tonight.”
On lifting in front of a home crowd:
“I’ve been itching to lift all week. It was brilliant. I didn’t even feel my first two lifts.”
On his plans:
“I want to push on and qualifying for Rio in 2016 starts now. I’ll be back in the game on Monday.”
On being shirtless on posters advertising Glasgow 2014:
“No more topless posters for a while.”
