Lagos State weightlifting prodigy, Florence Olarinoye, who shared the podium with her mother at the 2024 National Sports Festival, talks about her passion for education and sports in this interview with ABIODUN ADEWALE
Congratulations on winning a silver medal at the 2024 National Sports Festival. How do you feel, especially as your mother also won two medals in weightlifting?
I am happy to have won the silver. It is something great to show for all the work I have put in, especially because I was also preparing for my WAEC while preparing for this sports festival too. I would say this sports festival is tougher than the previous one for me because I was preparing for my exam at the same time, and I just moved into a new weight category. I moved from 45kg to 59kg. Sometimes, I would come back from school tired, and I would still have to train. At the end of everything, knowing that I won and my mother also won feels special.
Was there any moment that you felt like it was impossible to combine both?
Yes, that was when we started WAEC and we were also in camp in Bariga. Everything was smooth when I started the preparations, but at that point, I had moments when I broke down in tears because of the burden. Those times, I would return from school very tired but I must go to the gym as well. I get frustrated sometimes.
So, what was your motivation?
First, I knew I had to excel in both my exam and the sports festival. Thanks to my aunt, too, she followed up with every process and was always there to guide me. Every member of my family was there for me, too. On the day of my competition, I dropped a message for her that I would make her proud. But I lost in the snatch, and someone was on a video call with her. So, both of us started crying, but she encouraged me to do better in the clean and jerk where I eventually got silver. Even aside from the preparations, she motivates me a lot and opens my eyes to some technical parts of weightlifting. She talks to me and understands me a lot.
How did you start weightlifting?
There was a time when my aunt returned from an international competition, and we went to pick her up at the airport. So, I lifted her up, and she said that I already had power and that I should be coming to the gym. That was how it started. I was in JSS 1 then.
Since you are very close to your aunt, what is your relationship with your mother like?
It’s almost the same. I am very close to my mum too. Everybody in my family loves sports and they also support me. Even my dad, who doesn’t know much about sports, likes everything that I do. I can call the two of them my coaches as well.
After your WAEC, what’s the next thing?
For now, I want to focus on weightlifting and also try to learn a skill. It’s either I learn about tech or go for regular skills training like catering and baking. I will continue my education after that and I hope I can get a scholarship to study within and outside Nigeria.
What do you want to become in the future?
I want to become a surgeon. I have always wanted to be a surgeon and since my aunt told me about different areas of the medical field. I decided that I wanted to become a surgeon too.
So, how do you hope to combine that with your weightlifting career?
I can’t do weightlifting forever. I have a target, and that is to win an Olympic medal.
If one of your exams clashed with the sports festival schedule, what would you have done?
I would have forfeited the competition because I don’t want to sit for WAEC twice. And there are many sports festivals that I can attend too.
As you continue your exam, what kind of result do you expect and in which of the subjects do you think you can get an A1?
I think my results would be mostly Bs and Cs. If I will get AI, it would be in English Language and Civic Education. I like English that much because I used to write a lot when I was in junior school.