Esther Oyema

Esther Oyema
Personal information
NationalityNigerian
Born (1982-04-20) 20 April 1982 (age 42)
Weight48 kg (106 lb)
Sport
SportPowerlifting
Medal record
Representing  Nigeria
Women's Powerlifting
Paralympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2012 London Women's 48kg
Silver medal – second place 2016 Rio Women's 55kg
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 2010 Delhi Women's Open bench press
Gold medal – first place 2014 Glasgow Women's 61 kg
Gold medal – first place 2018 Gold Coast Women's lightweight
Updated on 20 January 2023

Esther Oyema (born 20 April 1982) is a Nigerian powerlifter.[1]

Oyema competed in the women's 61 kg event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games[2] where she won a gold medal and set a new world record by lifting 122.4 kg in the heavyweight category.[3] In 2015, she won a gold medal at the All-Africa Games by lifting 133 kg, beating her previous record of 126 kg.[4] In the same year, she traveled all the way to Almaty, Kazakhstan where she won another gold medal at the IPC Powerlifting Asian Open Championships by lifting 79 kg.[5] During the 2016 Summer Paralympics she won a silver medal by beating her Mexican counterpart, Amalia Perez in the women's 55 kg lifting.[6] She won a gold medal and created a new world record of 131 kg in the women's lightweight event at the 2018 Commonwealth games.[7]

On May 21, 2020, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) banned her for four years after failing a doping test. She competed at the 2019 International Paralympic competition held at the Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island in Lagos, where she won another gold medal, but this was later forfeited. Her urine sample was collected by the IPC during the competition and she tested positive for 19-norandrosterone.[8]

  1. ^ "Glasgow 2014 profile". Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  2. ^ "Preview: Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games powerlifting competition". www.paralympic.org. 20 July 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  3. ^ "Team Nigeria Para-power lifters set new world records at Commonwealth Games". Vanguard. 2 August 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  4. ^ "Another Nigerian powerlifter, Esther Onyema breaks world record". Vanguagrd. 16 September 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  5. ^ Valentine Chinyem (31 July 2015). "Nigerian Weight Lifters Break World Record in Asia". News of Nigeria. Archived from the original on 30 March 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  6. ^ Christopher Maduewesi (12 September 2016). "Esther Onyema wins Silver for Team Nigeria at Rio Paralympics". Making if Champs. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  7. ^ "Esther Oyema". results.gc2018.com. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  8. ^ "Esther Oyema receives a four-year ban for anti-doping rule violation". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 28 June 2021.