A former international weightlifter and erstwhile secretary-general of Nigeria’s governing federation for the sport, Faith Abudu has taken the discipline of strength and physical stability to her school in Edo State.
Sports247 gathered that Abudu made history when she successfully introduced weightlifting to the inter-house sports competition at Bright Brains Preparatory and Montessori School in Benin City.
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Abudu, who featured as a weightlifting international for Nigeria under her maiden name, Faith Okuonghae, said she was excited seeing her school feature the lifters’ sport for the first time among events competed by her students.
The former weightlifter, referee and coach, who represented Nigeria at the IWF World Championship in Bangkok, Thailand in 1997 and 1999 African Games in South Africa, said it took careful planning to achieve the feat.
Abudu disclosed excitedly, “I knew we would be having our Inter-House Sports in March. Being a weightlifting official, it was my dream to ensure that the sport was among the competing sports.
“We went for talent hunt to discover students who are good in weightlifting. It was a wonderful experience and the students performed above expectations. This has encouraged me to do more next time.”
She added that her enthusiasm to get weightlifting into the curricular at her school was inspired by memories of her she was introduced to the sport at a very young age, following which she grew with it and it eventually gave her a global name.
“I was introduced to the sport when I was 13 years old and I have benefitted immensely from the sport. I have travelled to several countries and also got the honour to represent my country in the past, winning laurels in the process.
“Being an advocate of introducing weightlifting to tertiary institutions, I also would like the sport to be introduced at secondary schools for the discovery of talent at the grassroots level,” Abudu retorted.
