Nigeria’s Lucy Ejike once again demonstrated her superiority in the women’s up to 67kg event as she claimed gold at the World Para Powerlifting Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Ejike endured a disappointing outing at the Tokyo Games but rebounded admirably in Georgia to win her third world title with a lift of 126kg to edge China’s Yujiao Tan (125kg) and Fatma Omar of Egypt (122kg).

Ejike’s third world title equals her Paralympics haul of three gold medals and ensures she remains the preeminent force in her field.

It has been a fantastic outing for Nigeria at the tournament with Onyinyechi Mark narrowly missing out on gold by just 1kg after her lift of 131kg was bested by Mexico’s Amalia Perez who lifted 132kg on her third attempt to claim top spot in the women’s up to 61kg. China’s Rui Jianjin was third with 121kg.

Meanwhile, Esther Nworgu also claimed a podium finish in the women’s up to 45kg as she lifted 98kg to win bronze. Guo Lingling of China won gold with a lift of 109kg while Clara Fuentes of Venezuela claimed silver with 99kg.

At the close of competition on Wednesday, Nigeria occupied third place on the medal table with three medals (one gold, one silver and one bronze medal. China leads the medal standings with six medals (two gold, two silver, two bronze) followed by Egypt in second place with four medals comprising two gold and two silver medals.