Esther Oyema

Esther Oyema

Personal information
Nationality	Nigerian
Born	(1982-04-20) 20 April 1982
Weight	48 kg (106 lb)
Sport
Sport	Powerlifting
Medal record Representing Nigeria Women's Powerlifting Paralympic Games 2012 London Women's 48kg 2016 Rio Women's 55kg Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi Women's Open bench press 2014 Glasgow Women's 61 kg 2018 Gold Coast Women's lightweight
Updated on 20 January 2023

Esther Oyema (born 20 April 1982) is a Nigerian powerlifter.

Oyema competed in the women's 61 kg event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games where she won a gold medal and set a new world record by lifting 122.4 kg in the heavyweight category. In 2015, she won a gold medal at the All-Africa Games by lifting 133 kg, beating her previous record of 126 kg. In the same year, she traveled all the way to Almaty, Kazakhstan where she won another gold medal at the IPC Powerlifting Asian Open Championships by lifting 79 kg. During the 2016 Summer Paralympics she won a silver medal by beating her Mexican counterpart, Amalia Perez in the women's 55 kg lifting. She won a gold medal and created a new world record of 131 kg in the women's lightweight event at the 2018 Commonwealth games.

On May 21, 2020, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) banned her for four years after failing a doping test. She competed at the 2019 International Paralympic competition held at the Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island in Lagos, where she won another gold medal, but this was later forfeited. Her urine sample was collected by the IPC during the competition and she tested positive for 19-norandrosterone.