London based Ghanaian weightlifter, Christopher Forrester Osei, has won gold at the just ended Africa Zone One Seniors Weightlifting Championship.
The competition which served as one of the qualification events for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games was held in Tripoli, Libya.
Participating countries were Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Sudan and Ghana.
Osei competed in the Men’s 96kg category and finished top with a total of 315kg to win three gold medals in snatch, clean and jerk.
The athlete who developed muscle cramp in both quadriceps prior to his event managed to snatch 145kg with clean and jerk of 170kg to score a total of 315kg.
He was followed by Tunisia’s Wajih Tlili who did a snatch of 140kg, clean and jerk of 169kg to make a total of 309kg and went home with three silver medals.
Three bronze medals were also won by Morocco’s Mehdi Armilat who did a snatch of 127kg with clean and jerk of 155kg to make a total of 282kg.
Osei expressed gratitude to the Youth and Sports Ministry for co-financing his participation in the competition.
He also thanked the Ghana Weightlifting Federation headed by Mr Ben Nunoo Mensah and his coach Dr Kyle Pierce for all efforts to ensure his participation in the competition.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Weightlifting Federation will need an amount of about US$18,000 to participate in the African Continental Championship in Egypt from the April 25-29.
BY MICHAEL D. ABAYATEYE
