The Chairman, National Sports Commission, (NSC), Mallam Shehu Dikko has expressed the commission’s readiness to support the Nigeria Weightlifting Federation (NWF) in the development of the sport in Nigeria.

The NSC Boss disclosed this while interacting with journalists at the 1st Eng. Habu Gumel National Open Weightlifting Championship held in Abuja.

The three-day competition saw athletes from the country converge to display their talents.

Dikko expressed delight over the federation’s efforts to develop weightlifting in the country, adding that the Commission will support them to actualise their objectives

“We at the NSC will do our best to partner with you to succeed. If the Federation succeed, we succeed, so we will do all we can to make you succeed.

Hopefully, we will make the next edition of this tournament much bigger,” he said.

“Weightlifting is a sport that we have comparative advantage. So, we will do all we can to enhance our chances in this sport.

Grassroots development of this sport is key because we need regular supply of talents to replace ageing ones. We will do all we can to support you.”

He further expressed optimism that he will see some of the athletes who performed exceptionally at the championship feature at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, USA

“By 2028 I hope to see some of these weightlifters doing exploits at the Olympics,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, Bayelsa State has once again proved their mettle in weightlifting as the state’s contingent.

The ‘Glory of All Lands’ garnered a total of 30 medals to place first in the overall medals table with 17 gold, 11 silver and 2 bronze medals, while Oyo State came a distant second with 9 gold and 3 bronze medals totalling 12 medals.

Delta State which dominated the weightlifting events at the 2022 National Sports Festival and the National Youth Games in September, came third with 6 gold, 9 silver and 6 bronze medals totalling 21 medals.

Plateau, Akwa Ibom, Edo, Osun, Rivers, Cross River and Ogun states occupied from 4th to 10th positions accordingly with 15, 6, 21, 19, 3, 3, 4 medals, respectively.