Lucy Ogechukwu Ejike (born 16 October 1977) is a Nigerian Paralympic

powerlifter Powerlifting is a strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight single-lift effor ...

. She has represented her country at six consecutive

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

from 2000 in Sydney through to 2021 in Tokyo. She has won medals at each, three gold, two silver and one bronze. She won a further silver medal at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth games women's lightweight category of the Para Powerlifting event behind compatriot

Esther Oyema Esther Oyema (born 20 April 1982) is a Nigerian powerlifter. Oyema competed in the women's 61 kg event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games where she won a gold medal and set a new world record by lifting 122.4 kg in the heavyweight category. ...

Personal history

Ejike was born in

Enugu Enugu ( ; ) is the capital city of Enugu State in Nigeria. It is located in southeastern part of Nigeria. The city had a population of 820,000 according to the 2022 Nigerian census. The name ''Enugu'' is derived from the two Igbo words ''Énú ...

, Nigeria, in 1977. Ejike uses a wheelchair due to

polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...

Ejike is married and she has two sons. She lives in the state of

where she works as a sports administrator.

Powerlifting career

Ejike began training as a powerlifter shortly before the

2000 Summer Paralympics The 2000 Summer Paralympic Games or the XI Summer Paralympics were held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, between 18 and 29 October. The Sydney Paralympics was last time that the Summer Paralympics which were organized by two different ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. At the Sydney Games she competed in the 44 kg weight class taking the silver medal with a lift of 102.5 kg, behind

Fatma Omar Fatma Omar (born 17 November 1973) is an Egyptian powerlifter competing in the -56 kg category. She is a dominant power in her sport, winning gold in her event in four Summer Paralympics, and another four gold medals at the IPC Powerlifting ...

of Egypt. Four years later at the Athens Games, while competing at the same weight class, she broke the Paralympic powerlifting world record twice on the way to winning the gold medal with a lift of 127.5 kg. At the

2008 Beijing Games The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

, Ejike moved up one weight class and took gold in the 48 kg event. She broke the world record with her first attempt, lifting 125 kg. She broke the record again with a second lift of 130 kg, but faltered while trying to lift 137.5 kg on her third attempt. After her win in Beijing, Ejike stated that has intentions of moving up another weight to set a new world record in a third class. This led to a showdown at the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...

in London with her rival from Athens, and current 56 kg world record holder, Fatma Omar. Ejike took the lead in the first round with a lift of 135 kg but she was unable to better this attempt, while Omar bettered her record from Beijing with a final lift of 142 kg. Despite failing to beat Omar, the two women were a class above the rest of the field, and Ejike took silver, 17 kg over bronze medalist Özlem Becerikli of Turkey. Four years later Ejike and Omar met for the third time at a Paralympic Games, when thy both entered the 2016 Games in Rio. After London the

International Paralympic Committee The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; german: Internationales Paralympisches Komitee) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and fun ...

changed the powerlifting weight categories for both men and women, and the two competed in the women's 61 kg division. The year previous Mexico's

Amalia Perez Amalia may refer to: People *Amalia (given name), feminine given name (includes a list of people so named) *Princess Amalia (disambiguation), several princesses with this name Films and television series * ''Amalia'' (1914 film), the first ...

had set a world record in the 61 kg with a lift of 133 kg, which Ejike surpassed with her first lift of 135 kg. Omar had failed at 133 kg on her first lift, but was successful at the same weight on her second attempt. Ejike improved her lead with her second lift, setting her second world record of the day with a weight of 138 kg. Omar responded with a final lift of 140 kg, putting Ejike into silver medal place. With her final attempt Ejike succeeded with her third world record of the day, and the gold medal when she completed a lift of 142 kg to make her a three time gold medal winner. As well as her gold medal success, Ejike was also honoured at Rio by being selected by her country to be the flag bearer at the

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

. She competed at the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

where she won a silver medal in the lightweight event. During the COVID-19 pandemic she had to stay at home and she reported that this affected her ability to train. She did take another gold at the World Championships in 2021 in Manchester where the athletes were not allowed to eat at a restaurant together because of the pandemic restrictions. Ejike was chosen as part of Nigeria's team for the

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the International Paralym ...

in Tokyo where she planned to gain more gold medals and to break her own world record. She won the bronze medal in the women's 61 kg event at the

held in Tokyo, Japan. A few months later, she won the gold medal in her event at the

2021 World Para Powerlifting Championships The 2021 World Para Powerlifting Championships was a powerlifting competition for athletes with a disability. It was held in Tbilisi, Georgia (country), Georgia from 27 November to 5 December. It was previously scheduled to be held in Batumi, Geor ...

held in Tbilisi, Georgia.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ejike, Lucy Ogechukwu 1977 births Living people Nigerian female weightlifters Paralympic powerlifters for Nigeria Nigerian female powerlifters Paralympic gold medalists for Nigeria Paralympic silver medalists for Nigeria Paralympic bronze medalists for Nigeria Paralympic medalists in powerlifting Powerlifters at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Powerlifters at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Powerlifters at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Powerlifters at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Powerlifters at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Powerlifters at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics African Games bronze medalists for Nigeria African Games medalists in weightlifting Competitors at the 2015 African Games Sportspeople from Enugu 20th-century Nigerian women 21st-century Nigerian women Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Nigeria Commonwealth Games medallists in powerlifting Powerlifters at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games