Mariam Usman

"The preparation is nothing to talk about; but I am not discouraged, rather I’m taking it up as a challenge to increase the tempo of my training outside the national camp. We have been in camp for the past two months training seriously, this will enable me to win a medal this time around and I know that almighty God will support my effort. I was in Beijing and London Olympics in 2008 and 2012 respectively, but couldn’t win any medal. However, this is another opportunity for me and I must make the difference this time."

"Thank God for exposure at previous Olympics, continental championships and series of trials that has helped me to garner the basic points that earned me this Olympic ticket."

"It is painful to come to the Olympics and see people who are your contemporaries perform better than you; not because you lack the ability but because you were not prepared like them."

"For me, it is not just about jumping unto the plane every four years to go to the Olympics. Every athlete you see here wants to step on the podium. If you can’t aim to climb up there, you have no business coming to the Olympics. I can only consider going to another Olympics if things change for the better. But if the status quo is maintained, I don’t think I will go to another Olympics again."

"Olympic gold medal doesn’t come cheap. It is painful that one has to suffer and when competition comes they expect you to win a medal with your blood. The people you have to compete with had everything they needed: training grants, competitions and are exposed to the most modern equipment. I had nothing. You don’t expect such people who have invested so much to lose to one who don’t even train adequately."

"I feel 2012 was better. I had better training and my result was better. This time nothing was done to better one’s performance."

"I feel honoured and glad to be voted as the Weightlifter of the Year 2014 by Nigerians. It was an honour that I feel is also a challenge for me to continue to do more, and promise not to disappoint the country (Nigeria)."

"The secret of my success is not far-fetched. With all honesty and modesty, I can say that determination and hard work are the keys to my success and I believe that other athletes can also achieve success if they are determined and hard working."

"I decided to become a weightlifter because of the intimidation from boys. I felt I needed to look like that so I can earn some respect from males and let them know that women can be like them too. Since I started, I have had no regrets at all as I have been able to win laurels for myself and the nation. Also, I can feed comfortable without disturbing anybody and my family is happy."

"I am going to the qualifiers lift the sole aim of picking a ticket for the Olympics. The tournament will actually show how much impact the camping had on me because I have never gone through this kind of camping in recent time. The coaches pushed us to the limit to bring out the best in us."

"We cannot keep doing the same thing and expect a different result. If our sports authorities want Nigerian athletes to begin to win like the rest athletes from around the world, we must begin to do things differently to get the type of results others are getting."

"It hurts a lot when you know that you have the capacity to do better but because certain things are not right in our preparations for the Games, one then fails to meet set target. I don’t want to sound as if I am giving excuses for my inability to make the podium. What I am saying is that we should not go to the next Games in four years time in Tokyo, Japan and also be in this same state of poor outing. I am appealing to whoever will be in-charge of Nigeria sports not allow things again turn lout like this. There should be better preparations, more encouragement for Nigerian athletes. Those other athletes (from other countries) that we competed against had everything as in everything to succeed. It just does not make sense to expect good result from Nigerian athletes who are competing with those who have been preparing in the last three years. We Nigerian athletes are just competing with tears and blood. It is through sheer personal determination to succeed that is driving Nigerian athletes. It just does not add up like that."

"I have won a couple of medals in several competitions but I yearn for an Olympic medal. It is the ultimate reward an athlete can get to show that one got to the peak of sport. And so it really hurts when one cannot get to the podium to receive an Olympic medal. Hurts real good."

"I feel really excited about winning. I've had my mind on gold ever since the very beginning. I believed I would get it and I did."

"Usman is the only one for weightlifting event in Rio; she did excellently well at the qualifiers which saw her through and she was able to secure the Olympic ticket."

"I had to raise her (Usman) to 160kg because she was no stranger to that. She lifted 170kg. She went to London to win, but Usman lost focus. I don’t know what happened, but she bungled it. It was painful. I brought her up and I know her capability."