Nigerian Paralympic Gold Medalist, Paul Kehinde is Dead

Paralympic gold medalist and current world record-holder in the men’s 65kg weightlifting category, Paul Kehinde, aka Olumi Agberin, has died.

Kehinde was also a former world number 1 Para Powerlifter, Olympic Gold medallist, and Commonwealth Games Champion.

Kehinde reportedly died on Thursday, November 18, at the age of 33 after a brief illness and will be buried in Epe today.

He died barely five weeks after being issued a 30-month ban for committing an anti-doping rule violation by the International Paralympic Committee.

In a statement by the IPC on October 11, Kehinde was said to have tested positive for prohibited substances following a urine sample provided out-of-competition on 9 March 2020.

The IPC’s Anti-Doping Director James Sclater, then said, “This case may have been avoided if the athlete had followed the rules for Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs) and verified that his prescribed medication was prohibited.

“The IPC would like to strongly remind all athletes who require the use of a prohibited substance or method, for a diagnosed medical condition, to apply for a TUE in accordance with the WADA ISTUE requirements.”

“Results obtained by the Athlete from the date the sample was collected will also be disqualified, with all resulting consequences, including forfeiture of any medals, points, and prizes.”

His ineligibility period started on March 9, 2020, and is to expire on September 8, 2022, and all results since his out-of-competition test have been wiped.

His achievements as an athlete includes winning Silver at the 2011 World Championship, Gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, and Gold at the 2015 All African Games (setting an African record of 214 kg).

Kehinde also won Gold at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games (broke the world record twice with lifts of 218kg and 220kg), Gold at the Mexico World Championship with another world record lift of 220kg, and another Gold at the 2018 FAZZA World Para-Powerlifting Championship with a record-breaking lift of 220kg.

He won Silver at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Australia, and Gold at the 2018 African championship.