Ruel Ishaku

Ishaku was born in 1967 in Nigeria. He suffers from poliomyelitis which means he has to walk with the use of crutches.^[5] He started his career in 1991. During the 2008 interview, he said;

When I was a kid, I was interested in weightlifting. So when I heard about that powerlifting could be a sport for the disabled in 1991, I decided to have a try.

Ishaku made his debut at the 2000 Summer Paralympics. He competed in the Men's up to 48 kg but did not record a valid lift.

He competed at the 2004 Summer Paralympics and won bronze in the same event. At the 2008 Summer Paralympics he won the gold medal.^[2]

Ishaku competed in and won gold at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in powerlifting. It was the only weightlifting event that Nigeria was allowed to enter as the nation was banned from able-bodied lifting when three of its lifters infringed anti-doping rules.^[6]

Ishaku has been cited to have influenced Yakubu Adesokan after Adesokan won the 2012 game surpassing his record in 2008.^[7]