Mariam Usman

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Mariam Usman
Personal information
Born (1990-11-09) 9 November 1990 (age 33)
Height1.66 m (5 ft 5+12 in)
Weight122 kg (269 lb)
Sport
Country Nigeria
SportWeightlifting
Event+75kg
Turned pro2007
Medal record
Women's Weightlifting
Representing  Nigeria
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2008 Beijing +75 kg
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2011 Paris +75 kg
All-Africa Games
Silver medal – second place 2007 Algiers +75 kg
Silver medal – second place 2015 Brazzaville +75 kg
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 2014 Glasgow +75 kg
Silver medal – second place 2010 Delhi +75 kg
African Championships
Gold medal – first place 2008 Strand +75 kg
Gold medal – first place 2011 Cape Town +75 kg
Gold medal – first place 2012 Nairobi +75 kg
Gold medal – first place 2016 Yaounde +75 kg
Commonwealth Championships
Gold medal – first place 2011 Cape Town +75 kg
Gold medal – first place 2013 Panang +75 kg
Updated on 15 October 2016.

Mariam Usman (born 9 November 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, winning a bronze medal in 2008.

Biography[edit]

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, but was upgraded to a bronze medal after the silver and bronze medalists from that event, Olha Korobka and Mariya Grabovetskaya, were suspended in August 2016 after testing positive for dehydrochlormethyltestosterone.[3][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[edit]

Year Venue Weight Snatch (kg) Clean & Jerk (kg) Total Rank
1 2 3 Rank 1 2 3 Rank
Olympic Games
2008 ChinaBeijing, China +75 kg 115 115 120 4 145 150 156 2 265 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
2012 United KingdomLondon, United Kingdom +75 kg 125 129 133 3 160 160 160 - - -
2016 BrazilRio de Janeiro, Brazil +75 kg 115 120 120 11 145 150 152 8 265 9
World Championships
2007 Thailand Chiang Mai, Thailand +75 kg 110 115 117 7 135 140 140 10 257 9
2009 South Korea Goyang, South Korea +75 kg 105 110 115 6 135 140 145 5 260 5
2011 France Paris, France +75 kg 117 117 121 5 151 156 160 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 273 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
2015 United States Houston, United States +75 kg 110 115 120 18 145 145 145 15 260 17
African Games
2007 Algeria Algiers, Algeria +75 kg 110 110 118 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 133 138 142 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 248 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
2015 Republic of the Congo Brazzaville, Congo +75 kg 116 121 122 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 150 155 156 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 266 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Commonwealth Games
2010 India Delhi, India +75 kg 115 120 120 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 140 150 150 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 255 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
2014 Scotland Glasgow, Scotland +75 kg 115 120 125 1st place, gold medalist(s) 145 150 155 1st place, gold medalist(s) 280 1st place, gold medalist(s)

References[edit]

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

External links[edit]