By This Day Newspaper reports today that Nigerian female weightlifter, Mariam Usman, was Thursday in Abuja presented the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games bronze medal awarded to her following the disqualification of the previous winner on account of dope infraction.
Nigerian Olympic Committee (NOC) on Thursday, 7th of September presented the precious metal to Usman at a brief ceremony at the Abuja Stadium. It will be recalled that Usman originally finished fifth at the Games nine years ago in the tournament. However, Usman has been upgraded to the third position after the silver and bronze medalists winners were suspended by the IOC for anti-doping rule violations.
On record, Usman is a four-time African champion and reigning gold medalist in her category at the last Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. She also has a bronze medal from the 2011 World Championships in Paris.
The presentation ceremony was attended by the Sports Minister Solomon Dalung, NOC President, Habu Gumel and President of Nigeria Weightlifting Federation, Mohammed Yahaya, This Day Newspaper disclosed.