Nigerian Paralympic Medalist is Dead

The Rio 2016 paralympic games gold medalist and world record-holder in the men’s 65kg para-powerlifting category, Paul Kehinde is dead.

He died at the age of 33 after a brief illness.

A media attache to Nigeria paralympic federation, Fred Edoreh, confirmed his death on Friday.

He died barely five weeks after being issued a 30-month ban for committing an anti-doping rule violation by the international paralympic committee.

At 2016 summer Olympics, Kehinde took the gold with a lift of 218kg and set a world and paralympic record of 220kg with a bonus effort.

In the men’s under-72kg category at the Glasgow 2014 commonwealth games, Kehinde lifted 221kg for gold, narrowly beating compatriot Rolland Ezuruike by less than a kilogram.

Kehinde could not successfully defend his title at the gold coast 2018 commonwealth games, losing out to Ezuruike for the gold, but did take silver.