Rio Paralympics: Orji earns Nigeria 8th gold medal, sets world record

Nigeria’s contingent to the Paralympics on-going in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, continued its chase for gold medals, as power-lifter, Josephine Orji, shattered and set a new World Record with a lift of 160kg to win gold in the women’s -84kg power-lifting event. Orji’s closest competitor was Poland’s Marzena Zieba, who lifted 134kg to win the siver medal.


The Netherlands’ Melaica Tuinfort claimed the bronze medal with a 130kg lift. The latest gold medal is Nigeria’s 8th at the event. It also brings the nation’s total medals’ haul to 11– eight gold, two silver and one bronze – and places her 10th on the medals’ log.