African Games: Niyoyita beats Kubo's medal hattrick
Niyoyita posing with his medals. PHOTO/JOHN BATANUDDE
What you need to know:
Madagascar's Eric Andriantsithohaina, who took gold with 231kg while Mauritian Emile Gwendal took bronze with a 204kg-total.
By winning three medals at the ongoing African Games in Accra, Ghana, weightlifter Davis Niyoyita has beaten Zubairi Kubo's record which he set in 2019.
Niyoyita, who ended 2023 on a declining note, fetched bronze in snatch with his best lift at 90kg, and silver in clean & jerk with a best lift of 120kg in the men’s 55kg category. His 210kg total was second to
Madagascar's Eric Andriantsithohaina, who took gold with 231kg while Mauritian Emile Gwendal took bronze with a 204kg-total.
By fetching a bronze and two silver medals, Niyoyita has surpassed Kubo, who won three bronze medals at the 2019 Games in Rabat, Morocco.
In Rabat, in the 96kg category, Kubo lifted 131kg in snatch and 170kg in clear and jerk, totaling 301kg and finishing third overall.
Niyoyita did not match his 215kg total, which fetched him gold at the African Senior Championship in Tunis, in May 2023, but it is a better consolation after his disappointment at the IWF Grand Prix in Qatar in December.
Niyoyita's collection upped Uganda's tally to seven medals, after a bronze, silver and gold from badminton and another bronze by swimmer Gloria Muzito.
With that historic gold, Accra 2023 is already better than Rabat 2019 where Uganda got just two silver medals and eight bronze medals.
