Saifullah Solangi wins first medals for Pakistan in Special Olympics

KARACHI: In a first victory for Pakistan in the ongoing Special Olympics World Games in Berlin, powerlifter Saifullah Solangi made the country proud as he won four medals on Tuesday.

Solangi won one gold medal in the powerlifting event by lifting 90kg in the back squat another gold medal in Dead lift by lifting 115kg weight and then in Combined he lifted 245kg to secure a silver medal. He also won bronze medal in Bench 40kg weight-lifting.

After the superb show, Saifullah was extremely happy and pledge play with same zeal and hard work to win more laurels for the country.

Saifullah’s head coach Sajid Imran, and coach Razia Perveen was all praise for Solangi and said that he undergone rigorous training schedule for the event and had worked really hard for the mega world event. “Winning two gold, one silver and one bronze is a superb performance and he has made us proud,” Sajid Imran said.

Earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday expressed his best wishes to the 87-member delegation of the country’s differently-abled athletes who are taking part in the being held in Germany from June 17 to June 25.

“I am confident that our special and privileged athletes will use the mega opportunity to bring laurels to the motherland through their talent and determination,” the prime minister posted on his Twitter handle.

“Now is the time to reap the fruit of hard work they put in while preparing for 11 games,” he added.

He said that the delegation had the prayers of the whole nation with them.

From June 17-25, 2023, Berlin, Germany will host 7,000 Special Olympics athletes and Unified partners from approximately 190 countries to compete in 26 sports.

The athletes will be supported by more than 3,000 coaches and 20,000 volunteers.