Folashade Oluwafemiayo was one of the athletes who shined like a million star at the 2022 Commonwealth Games where she broke her own World Record in the women’s heavyweight powerlifting event to win gold for Team Nigeria. The paralympic champion was in superb form, lifting a new world record of 155kg to bag her first gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. The 35-year-old now sets her sight on bigger feats in the sport, according to what she told sportsafricana.com in Birmingham.
There is great ability in disability and Nigeria’s Folashade Oluwafemiayo demonstrated this at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, United Kingdom where she defied all odds to set a new world record in the powerlifting event.
Competing against some of the best lifters in the women’s heavyweight category at the Commonwealth Games, Oluwafemiayo lifted 155kg with her final attempt to end with 123.4 points, alongside compatriot Bose Omolayo who settled for silver medal.
Stating her resolve to break new grounds in powerlifting, Oluwafemiayo said: “As an athlete, if you are training, you look for the record in that class and you believe in your mind that since someone can do this, you can also do it. I trained for the record in the class, and I also trained for the record at the Commonwealth Games. Whenever you know you have a championship before you, you train and prepare hard for it, and you don’t go there and fail. So, definitely if there is any championship my preparation will be hard, I will add more to my training.”
Oluwafemiayo contracted polio early in life and decided to embrace sports, especially powerlifting, which she said has had positive impact on her life. “Sport has impacted me in many ways. Even by going out and seeing other physically-challenged persons like me doing sports, it will change your life. But if you sit in a place and there is no improvement, you are not mixing with others like you, you will be stagnant in life. But by going out with others to do sports you will change your life.
“I embraced powerlifting because I have passion for it. When you have passion for something, you will go for it and you will determine in your mind that you will achieve something in that thing you have passion for,” she said.
Obviously, Oluwafemiayo has put her spectacular Birmingham feat behind her and is preparing to conquer new heights: “Breaking the world record is an achievement and the next thing for me is to continue training because when you break new records, you find out that your counterparts will be training with your records. So you must buckle up more so you can go for more. So you definitely need to improve more in breaking records by buckling up in training. My greatest moment is whenever I win a medal, when I achieve my aim.”
Oluwafemiayo is married with children and credited family support, especially from her husband, mother and children, for her success in her sport. “God is my inspiration and my family members most especially my husband are my backbone alongside my children. Whenever I see them, they inspire me,” the world record holder told sportsafricana.com.
Speaking on her future plans, Oluwafemiayo said: “My dream is to become an official in the world body – the International Paralympics Council (IPC) after my retirement. I want to take care of my children so that they will achieve more. I want to take them to that level where I’ve not gotten to. I want them to go beyond my own level.”
She charged the Nigerian government to do more for sports, particularly para-athletes. “We need the government to support us when we have sport events coming up by camping us early so that we can perform better in the competition. When we come back after the victory, we want the government to empower us in one way or the other and encourage us more so that we can go out there and make the country proud,” she said.
Off the competitive powerlifting podium and away from the klieg lights of her sport, Oluwafemiayo loves to spend time with her family. She said: “Whenever I am not competing, I sit at home and take care of my children. As a physically-challenged person, you must care for your children so they will live a better life.
“I want to thank my mom because she is always there for me and my husband who is also into sport. We are both powerlifters. So whenever I go for any competition, my mom and my husband take care of the home.”