‘I’m Proud of Myself’: Rafiatu Lawal Reacts After Record-Breaking Commonwealth Gold
“I’m proud of myself and proud of my hard work. The conditions went well for me today and the crowd was so amazing. To see a crowd shouting for Nigeria motivated me,” an elated Rafiatu Folashade Lawal said after delivering a flawless, record-breaking performance to win the women’s 58kg weightlifting title at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games.
The Nigerian described the victory as one of the finest moments of her career after completing all six of her lifts successfully for the first time in competition.
“This is the best. Since I’ve been competing, I’ve never had six complete attempts, but today I had six complete attempts without any scares and I’m happy with that,” she added.
Lawal’s dominant display secured Nigeria’s third weightlifting gold medal of the day at the SEC Armadillo, following earlier triumphs by Edidiong Joseph Umoafia in the men’s 71kg and Onome Omolola Didih in the women’s 53kg events.
The 2025 World Championships silver medallist laid the foundation for victory with a Commonwealth and Games record lift of 103kg in the snatch, giving herself a commanding nine-kilogram advantage.
She then watched as Canada’s Ann Sophie Taschereau and India’s Bindyarani Devi Sorokhaibam temporarily occupied the top two positions during the clean and jerk before returning to the platform to seal victory.
Lawal sent the crowd into celebration with a Games record lift of 126kg in the clean and jerk, completing a remarkable performance that secured the gold medal and capped a memorable day for Team Nigeria, whose weightlifters continued their dominance at Glasgow 2026.
