Weightlifting: African championships and continental qualifiers for the Olympics-Janet Georges wins two gold medals and silver |04 April 2012

At the City Hall in Nairobi, Kenya, Georges won her two gold medals in the snatch event with 94kg and Olympic total with 208kg after having clean & jerked 114kg for a silver medal in the 69kg class.

Nigeria’s Oluwatoyin Adesanmi was second overall with an Olympic total of 205kg after lifting 90kg in snatch and 115kg in clean & jerk. Andesanmi’s 115kg clean & jerk effort earned her the gold medal.

Seychelles’ other female lifter at the competition was Ruby Malvina. She competed in the 58kg category, where she finished fourth overall with an Olympic total of 168kg (73kg in snatch and 95kg in clean & jerk).

This category was won by Nigerian Margaret Uwah who grabbed three gold medals with lifts of 85kg in snatch and 106kg in clean & jerk for an Olympic total of 191kg. Tunisian Nadia Hosni was second (75kg in snatch and 100kg in clean & jerk for an Olympic total of 175kg) and Myriam Ghekap Wafo of Cameroon was third (75kg in snatch and 97kg in clean & jerk for an Olympic total of 172kg).

Seychelles was also represented by two male lifters in Nairobi. Ian Rose finished 10th in the men’s 69kg group with an Olympic total of 240kg (105kg in snatch and 135kg in clean & jerk).

South African Greg Otsile Shushu won the category with an Olympic total of 285kg (125kg in snatch and 160kg in clean & jerk) followed by Algerian Housseyn Fardjallah with an Olympic total of 276kg (125kg in snatch and 151kg in clean & jerk) and Cameroonian Njuh Venatus with an Olympic total of 275kg (120kg in snatch and 155kg in clean & jerk) in second and third places.

Terrence Dixie finished eighth overall in the 85kg category. He snatched 122kg and lifted 147kg in the clean & jerk for an Olympic total of 269kg.

The category was dominated by Libya’s Ali Elkekli who finished with an Olympic total of 346kg (155kg in snatch and 191kg in clean & jerk). Runner-up to Elkekli was Nigerian Benedict Ulolo with an Olympic total of 335kg (150kg in snatch and 185kg in clean & jerk) and Algerian Abdallah Mekkii finished third with an Olympic total of 318kg (145kg in snatch and 173kg in clean & jerk).

Accompanied by coaches William Dixie and Macdonald Henriette, the lifters are expected back tomorrow, but it is not clear if one of them has qualified for the London Olympics.

This is because Seychelles did not send full teams to the competition in Nairobi. A full men’s team should have comprised six lifters, while a full women’s squad should have had four competitors.

The first five men’s teams and first four women’s in the final rankings qualified a lifter each for the Olympics.

R. D.