体坛英语新闻：Kenya miss out on Olympics weightlifting ticket

NAIROBI, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Only a wild card selection might save face for Kenya after its lifters succumbed to the pressure and incompetence during the Africa Olympic qualifying tournament that ended on Monday night.

Nigeria and Cameroon ruled the roost in the competition that attracted the top 13 countries from Africa.

No single Kenyan made it to the medal bracket and Pius Ochieng, the Kenya Weightlifting Association chairman said on Tuesday the country is at sympathy basis of the world body to throw it a wild card or miss out all together for the chance to be part of history in London in August.

"Even though our performance did not merit, we (Kenya) remain hopeful to be represented in the Olympics following a wild card pledge by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), it's a kind gesture for successfully hosting the African contest," Ochieng told reporters Tuesday.

Kenya finished tenth overall in men's team classification that was headed by Nigeria. Kenya women finished eighth with Algeria leading the pack.

Only two Kenyans out of the ten who participated managed to finish among Africa's top 40.

They are team captain Duke Machaka Onguti (85kg) and veteran weightlifter Mercy Obiero Apondi (63kg). Obiero was in Beijing in 2008, but never went past the second round.

"I am happy that I'm among those considered as Africa's best," said Obiero who together with Onguti, are hopeful to land the coveted wildcard.

Nigeria led overall with 27 medals with Cameroon claiming another 17 while Tunisia was third with 27 medals.

Other countries that took part are Seychelles, Madagascar, Mauritius, South Africa, Mauritania, Ghana, Uganda, Libya and Algeria.

Nigerians Mariam Usman (75kg) and Margaret Uwah (58kg) finished top of their categories after totals of 281kg and 191kg respectively.

Usman snatched 125kg and a massive lift of 156kg to win the gold while Uwah managed 85kg (snatch) and 106kg (clean and jerk).

Nigerians were unrivalled in the men's event too with Shola Fadodun winning total of 250kg earning him gold in the men's 62kg.

Kenyan junior Julius Mogire combined total of 185kg, a lift of 100kg and snatch of 85kg ranked him a distant sixth. This was the last qualifier event for Africa countries for the Olympics.