Rafiatu Lawal
Nigerian weightlifter (born 1996)
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Rafiatu Folashade Lawal (born 12 November 1996) is a Nigerian weightlifter. She won the gold medal in the women's 59 kg event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham, England.[1] She represented Nigeria at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. In 2019, she represented Nigeria at the African Games held in Rabat, Morocco and she won the gold medal in the women's 59 kg event.[2]
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 12 November 1996 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | Nigeria | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Weightlifting | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight class | 59 kg | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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She won the gold medal in her event at the 2021 African Weightlifting Championships held in Nairobi, Kenya.
Career
At the 2019 African Games held in Rabat, Morocco, she won the gold medal in the women's 59 kg event.[2][3] She also won the gold medal in both the Snatch and Clean & Jerk events.[2] She also set a new African record of 93 kg in the Snatch event.[4]
She competed in the women's 59 kg event at the 2021 World Weightlifting Championships held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.[5] She finished in 6th place in this competition.[5] The 2021 Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships were also held at the same time and her total result gave her the gold medal in this event.[6][7] As a result, she qualified to compete at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.[8]
She won the gold medal in the women's 59 kg event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham, England.[1][9] She also set new Commonwealth Games records in the Snatch (90 kg), Clean & Jerk (116 kg) and Total (206 kg).[10]
In March 2024, she won the gold medal in the women's 59 kg event at the 2023 African Games held in Accra, Ghana.[11] In August 2024, she competed in the women's 59 kg event at the 2024 Summer Olympics held in Paris, France.[12] She finished in fifth place with 230 kg in total.[12]
Achievements
| Year | Venue | Weight | Snatch (kg) | Clean & Jerk (kg) | Total | Rank | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | Rank | 1 | 2 | 3 | Rank | |||||
| Summer Olympics | ||||||||||||
| 2024 | Paris, France | 59 kg | 100 | N/a | 130 | N/a | 230 | 5 | ||||
| World Championships | ||||||||||||
| 2021 | Tashkent, Uzbekistan | 59 kg | 89 | 92 | 6 | 108 | 112 | 115 | 7 | 207 | 6 | |
| 2023 | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | 59 kg | 95 | 100 | 5 | 120 | 125 | 7 | 225 | 6 | ||
| 2025 | Førde, Norway | 58 kg | 99 | 101 AF |  | 126 | 128 AF | | 229 AF | | ||
| IWF World Cup | ||||||||||||
| 2024 | Phuket, Thailand | 59 kg | 96 | 101 | 7 | 121 | 126 | 7 | 227 | 8 | ||
| Commonwealth Games | ||||||||||||
| 2022 | Birmingham, England | 59 kg | 90 | N/a | 110 | 115 | 116 | N/a | 206 |  | ||
| African Games | ||||||||||||
| 2019 | Rabat, Morocco | 59 kg | 90 | 93 | | 111 | 115 | 117 | | 210 | | |
| 2024 | Accra, Ghana | 59 kg | 85 | — | — | | 105 | — | — | | 190 | |
| African Championships | ||||||||||||
| 2021 | Nairobi, Kenya | 59 kg | 88 | 90 | | 109 | 111 | | 201 | | ||
| 2023 | Tunis, Tunisia | 59 kg | 91 | 95 | | 115 | 122 | | 217 | | ||
| 2024 | Ismailia, Egypt | 59 kg | 95 | | 115 | 119 | | 214 | | |||
| Commonwealth Championships | ||||||||||||
| 2021 | Tashkent, Uzbekistan | 59 kg | 89 | 92 | N/a | 108 | 112 | 115 | N/a | 207 | | |
