Mariam Usman

Mariam Usman
Personal information
Born (1990-11-09) November 9, 1990
Height 1.66 m (5 ft 5 12 in)
Weight 122 kg (269 lb)
Sport
Country  Nigeria
Sport Weightlifting
Event(s) +75kg
Turned pro 2007
Updated on October 15, 2016.

Mariam Usman (born November 9, 1990) is a Nigerian weightlifter. She competes in the women's +75 kg class, where she is a four-time African Champion and gold medalist at the Commonwealth Games. She also won a bronze medal at the 2011 World Weightlifting Championships and has competed in three editions of the Olympic Games.

Biography

Usman was born in Kaduna, Nigeria and took up weightlifting as a way to combat harassment that she received from boys.[1] She debuted on the international scene in 2007, where she took silver in all three categories of the +75 division at the 2007 All-Africa Games in Algiers, Algeria[2] and finished 9th at the World Championships in Chiang Mai, Thailand. She then qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China by winning the +75 kg class at the 2008 African Weightlifting Championships in Strand, South Africa.[3]

At the Beijing Games Usman competed in the +75 kg division and finished fifth,[3] although the silver and bronze medalists from that event, Olha Korobka and Mariya Grabovetskaya, were suspended in August 2016 after testing positive for dehydrochlormethyltestosterone.[4] She came in fifth at the 2009 World Championships in Goyang, South Korea and then took silver overall at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India. She improved to first at the 2011 Commonwealth and African Championships and took overall bronze at the 2011 World Championships held in Paris, France.[3]

Usman qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics by winning the +75 kg division at that year's African Championships in Nairobi, Kenya, but in London failed to complete the Clean & Jerk portion of the event and did not place. She was more successful in the ensuing years, however, taking gold at the 2013 Commonwealth Championships in Penang, Malaysia and the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. At the 2015 African Games in Brazzaville, Congo, however, she slipped to silver and finished 17th at the World Championships in Houston, Texas.[3]

Nonetheless, Usman won the 2016 African Championships, held in Yaounde, Cameroon, and was part of Nigeria's delegation to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. There she finished 8th among 16 competitors in the +75 kg category.[3] Usman blamed her performance on lack of training opportunities offered to her in Nigeria and stated that she would no longer compete internationally for her home country.[5]

Senior level results

Year Venue Weight Snatch (kg) Clean & Jerk (kg) Total Rank
123Rank123Rank
Olympic Games
2008 ChinaBeijing, China +75 kg 115115120614515015642655
2012 United KingdomLondon, United Kingdom +75 kg 1251291333160160160---
2016 BrazilRio de Janeiro, Brazil +75 kg 1151201201114515015282659
World Championships
2007 Thailand Chiang Mai, Thailand +75 kg 1101151177135140140102579
2009 South Korea Goyang, South Korea +75 kg 105110115613514014552605
2011 France Paris, France +75 kg 117117121515115616032733rd, bronze medalist(s)
2015 United States Houston, United States +75 kg 110115120181451451451526017
African Games
2007 Algeria Algiers, Algeria +75 kg 1101101182nd, silver medalist(s)1331381422nd, silver medalist(s)2482nd, silver medalist(s)
2015 Republic of the Congo Brazzaville, Congo +75 kg 1161211222nd, silver medalist(s)1501551562nd, silver medalist(s)2662nd, silver medalist(s)
Commonwealth Games
2010 India Delhi, India +75 kg 1151201202nd, silver medalist(s)1401501502nd, silver medalist(s)2552nd, silver medalist(s)
2014 Scotland Glasgow, Scotland +75 kg 1151201251st, gold medalist(s)1451501551st, gold medalist(s)2801st, gold medalist(s)

References

  1. "Maryam Usman". Organizing Committee of the 2014 Commonwealth Games. 2014-07-30. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
  2. "9th All-Africa Games" (PDF). Commonwealth Weightlifting Federation. 2007-07-20. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "USMAN Maryam NGR". International Weightlifting Federation. 2016. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
  4. "Public Disclosures". International Weightlifting Federation. 2016-08-24. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
  5. "I won't represent Nigeria again – Usman". Vanguard. Lagos. 2016-08-18. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
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