Weightlifting: Nakidde gets personal best, but misses medal
Nakidde set herself a lofty target ahead of the African Games. PHOTO/PROMISE TWINAMUKYE
What you need to know:
Nakidde, who went with high hopes after her bronze medal at the Africa Senior Championships in Ismailia, Egypt in February, must have wanted to replicate her teammate Davis Niyoyita, who won bronze and two silver medals on Sunday.
Ugandan weightlifting captain Lydia Nakidde got a rude reminder about the standards she must shoot for after finishing sixth among six in the Women’s 64kg category at the African Games in Accra, Ghana this week.
Nakidde, who went with high hopes after her bronze medal at the Africa Senior Championships in Ismailia, Egypt in February, must have wanted to replicate her teammate Davis Niyoyita, who won bronze and two silver medals on Sunday.
Nakidde successfully lifted 65kg, her first attempt in snatch, failed 70kg and lifted it in her third attempt.
In clean & jerk, she started with 85kg, failed 90kg and got it right in her third attempt, totaling 160kg.
Those were three personal bests in snatch, clean & jerk and the total compared to the 154kg she lifted at the IWF Grand Prix in Doha, Qatar in December and the African Championship in Ismailia last month. But it was way below the medal mark because Algeria’s Ikram Cherara got bronze at 178kg, Tunisia’s Chaima Rahmouni got silver at 203kg while Nigeria’s Ruth Ayodele got gold at 208kg.
At 63.85kg, Nakidde had the highest bodyweight, but that will be a lesson to her and the Ugandan technical team because gold medallist Ayodele, weighed just 60.90kg.
International debutants Steven Ojede and Aisha Namataka were the only lifters due to compete in Accra.
Now Nakidde, the USPA athlete of February, must pray for better fortunes at the IWF World Cup, in Phuket, Thailand, the final qualifier for the Paris 2024 Olympics, later this month.
NAKIDDE’S LIFTS IN ACCRA
Snatch: 65, 70, 70
Clean & jerk: 85, 90, 90
TOTAL: 160KG
