Paris Olympics: Joy Eze to begin the quest for podium finish in weightlifting on Friday

Team Nigeria's second representative in the Weightlifting event, Joy Ogbonne Eze will have her Olympics moment on Friday, at the South Paris Arena 6 inside Paris Expo Complex in the Women's 71kg at the ongoing Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Eze dazzled other weightlifters in her weight class at just 15 years old to win the African Games Gold medal in 2019 in Morocco.

 At age 20, she has become twice African Champion and she's also making her debut at the Olympic Games in Paris.

Eze will slug it out with 21-year-old Junior World Record Holder in both the Snatch (115kg lift) and Clean & Jerk (147kg lift), Olivia Reeves of the United States and current World Record Holder in Snatch (121kg lift) in the weight class, 23 years old Angie Palacious Dajomes of Ecuador.

Others in the women's 71kg that will compete with Eze are Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games bronze medallist in the women's 64kg, Huei Chen Wen (Chinese Taipei), Siuzanna Valodzka (Individual Neutral Athletes, AIN), Elena Loredana Toma (Romania), Marie Fegue (France), Leivis Mari Sanchez (Colombia), Neama Said (Egypt), Amanda Da Costa Schott (Brazil), and Jacqueline Nichele (Australia).

Eze in an interview with NWF Media said she knows what is at stake and that she's pumped up for the weight class and poised to put all she has to it to ensure Nigeria comes top in the women's 71kg on Friday.

She said it has always been her dream to go to the Olympics and that now that the dream has become a reality she's eager to start her Olympics story impressively with a good display.

"I am so pleased to have qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and having satisfied a personal wish, I am eager to do my best to ensure that I put my very best to work towards getting a medal," Eze told NWF Media.