USMAN Mariam < Back  
Sport Weightlifting
CGA Nigeria   
Gender Women
Born 09 Nov 1990 in Kaduna, NGR
Height1.66 m
Weight 122 kg
Human Interest
Further Personal Information
Higher education Physical Education - Kaduna State Polytechnic: Nigeria
Sport Specific Information
Why this sport? "I decided to become a weightlifter because of the intimidation from boys. I felt I needed to earn some respect from males and let them know that women can be like them too."
When and where did you begin this sport? She has been involved in the sport since 2007.
Further Personal Information
Languages English
General Interest
Nicknames Heavyweight (Athlete, 18 Nov 2010)
Sporting philosophy / motto "There's nothing wrong in knowing what you want and having the guts to go for it." (Facebook profile, 05 Aug 2017)
Further Personal Information
Family Son Abdullah
General Interest
Awards and honours She was the flag bearer for Nigeria at the opening ceremony of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. (GNS, 24 Jul 2014)
Sport Specific Information
Club / Team Team Kaduna: Nigeria
Further Personal Information
Occupation Athlete
General Interest
Hobbies Sport development, youth and women empowerment. (Facebook page, 08 Jun 2017)
Injuries She struggled with an injured wrist at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. (ikengachronicles.com, 18 Nov 2016)
Memorable sporting achievement Being awarded the bronze medal for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. (punchng.com, 05 Nov 2017)
International Debut
Year 2007
Competing for Nigeria
Tournament All Africa Games
Location Algiers, ALG
General Interest
Other information BELATED MEDAL
She was presented with a bronze medal for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing in September 2017. Although she had finished fifth at the Games, due to doping violations she was upgraded to become an Olympic bronze medallist. (vanguardngr.com, 10 Sep 2017)

CLEAN SPORT
She is a vocal campaigner against drug use in sports, and has been teaching younger generations about the dangers of using drugs in sports. "A lot more work needs to be done to completely eradicate the use of drugs in sports. Athletes should also be educated on time because some athletes get doped ignorantly. Regular education about banned substances and drugs should be given to athletes." (punchng.com, 05 Nov 2017)