Nigeria’s current African weightlifting champion in the 71kg class, Tuesday Emmanuel Inakedor has revealed that he started putting serious interest into the event when he was in primary three, Sports247 reports.
Inakedor, who won one of Nigeria’s table-topping medals at this year’s ANOCA Games, recalled that his weightlifting zeal began when he heard some neighbours talking about the sport and he soon became fascinated with it.
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He revealed this and other facts of his life while answering questions in ‘Athlete Corner’ segment of Sports247 Niaija TV’s live streaming programme, Inside Naija Sports, which begins broadcasting at 11:45pm every Friday via YouTube.
Inakedor recounted, “My journey started when I was in primary three. I used to hear my neighbours talk about sports and how they went to the gym.
“I was always excited when I heard them talk about weightlifting. So, one day, I said, ‘Let me try it out,’ and I went with them. That was how I started weightlifting.”
Inakedor then disclosed how he manages to combine being an active weightlifter with the additional responsibilities he has in armwrestling, both of which described as power sports.
“I’ve been able to combine weightlifting and armwrestliing because they are both strong sports. In weightlifting, you have to build your body, your arms and your legs
So, it was easier for me to move into armwrestling because my arms were already built in weightlifting,” he pointed out.
The dual-sports competitor disclosed further how he earlier missed the chance of winning a gold medal at the African championship because an Egyptian lifted the same weight before him.
“It was at the African championship in Mauritius, where I competed in the final with a tough Egyptian opponent. Both of us lifted 150kg, but they gave him the gold medal because he lifted it before me.
“That was how I missed the gold medal, but I was still very happy because I saw myself becoming one of the best in Africa.”
Inakedor concluded with a look at lack of funding, poor welfare packages, and high costs in the treatment of injuries, which he said are all stiff challenges to weightlifters in Nigeria.
“The biggest problem we are facing is funding. We don’t have sponsors, and we can’t get financial support to encourage us.
“There is also the problem of injuries. If you get an injury in weightlifting or armwrestling, you’ll find out that it’s hard for it to heal fast.
“That’s because the type of welfare structure we get in Nigeria is not good enough and it’s very expensive to treat our injuries,” Tuesday Inakedor reiterated.
