American born Nigerian Power lifter, Russell Orhii, son of a Nigerian top politician and former Director General, National Agency for Food Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr. Paul Orhii, yesterday became the World Champion after lifting a 83 kg weight at the 2019 World Powerlifting Championship in Sweden.
The 25 year old Champion who has competed for the coveted prize for three years was a silver medallist in 2018 and a two time American champion. Russell who represented the United States of America at the competition was awarded a gold medal and pronounced the World Strongest Man at the moment. In a short message sent to Daily Independent, his father, Dr. Orhii expressed joy over his son’s success at the competition and wished him well in his future endeavours.
He said, “My son is very hardworking and I wish him all the best in his chosen career as he continues to do Tiv nation, Nigeria and the entire world proud.
The world reigning champion took to his twitter handle @Russwole to thank everyone who has followed his journey to stardom this year saying, “It means the world to me. I wouldn’t have done it without you.”