28th May, 2012
Chairman, Lagos State Weightlifting Association, LSWA, Navy Captain Babatunde Adedimeji (retd) in this interview with BIMBO AJAYI, spoke about the Lagos State Sports Festival, tagged Ibile 2012 and its contributions to the development of weightlifting in the state and Nigeria.
How will you rate the standard of weightlifting at the Ibile Games 2012?
I say with great satisfaction that the standard of weightlifting at the Ibile Games 2012 was very high. I’m indeed thrilled at the level of competition and the number of athletes that we had on parade.
What about the new talents at the games?
We discovered new talents in weightlifting, especially in the junior level. Many young talents competed at the junior cadre and many of them convinced us that they have what it takes to be good lifters in the near future. Consequently, I can say without any reservations that we discovered a great number of new talents in both the male and female categories.
How can the state government and the association plan to improve on these new talents?
The state government has come out with a new policy under the Ministry of Sports to organise quarterly competitions in a bid to promote sports at the grassroots. This will give these new talents the privilege to compete from time to time.
We are waiting for the staging of the next competition, to be held in this quarter. Aside from that, the association on its own plans to organise quarterly competitions for these young athletes. We have already mapped out some programmes to achieve our aim.
What is your take on the standard of weightlifting in Nigeria?
Weightlifting is developing in Nigeria and the country has won a number of laurels in the sport both on the continent and at the world stage.
It is a topmost sport if we consider the fact that it gives the highest number of medals in every competition.
However, at the state level, I think the sport is developing in Lagos State considering the great strides we have accomplish at Ibile Games this year.