The Nigerian Olympic Committee (NOC) has presented the 2008 Beijing Olympic Bronze Medal to weightlifter Mariam Usman.

Mariam Usman, who finished 5th in the women’s weightlifting (+75kg) category in Beijing, was upgraded to a bronze medalist after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) found second placed and third place weightlifters at the event, Olha Korobka of Ukraine and Kazakhstan’s Mariya Grabovetskaya guilty of doping offenses.

In the event that took place inside the Media Centre of the National Stadium in Abuja on Thursday, President of the NOC, Engr Habu Gumel decorated Usman with the bronze medal.

“Today is a very important day for the us in the sense that we have our weightlifter, Mariam Usman +75kg decorated as an Olympic medallist” Gumel told reporters.

He explains further: “After every competition, there is always a test to be sure the athletes are free from drugs. The medallists were tested and the lady from Ukraine tested positive and the IOC decided to retrieve the medal and give it to the rightful owner who is Mariam”