The Ghana Weightlifting Federation (GWF) scooped five awards at the 42nd MTN Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG) awards Night held on Saturday at the Banquet Hall of the State House, Accra.

The weightlifters and the President of the Association, Ben Nunoo Mensah, were awarded for their impressive performance at the International front last year.

The Weightlifting team, the Black Cranes, was recognised as the National Team of the Year after their sterling performance in the IWF Youth World Championship and the Commonwealth Youth, Junior and Senior Championship in Penang, Malaysia. The team won two gold medals, a bronze and silver.

Weightlifter Christian Amoah was adjudged the Male Weightlifter of the Year. He was the Black Crane’s sole athlete at the 2016 Olympic Games and also won gold at the IWF Youth World Championship and Commonwealth Senior Championship.

Youngster Richmond Osarfo won the Discovery of the Year after exhibiting an impressive display at the Youth World Championship and Commonwealth Championship, where he Silver and bronze.

It would be recalled that Richmond was discovered at the 2016 Indomie Championships and his achievement was an icing on the GWF’s four year development plan, which sought to produce an Africa and Commonwealth Champion.

Ruth Baffoe received the Female Weightlifter of the Year award after winning three bronze medals at the Africa Weightlifting Championship held in Cameroon. Her win tremendously encouraged young females’ athletes to participate in weightlifting.

The Federation’s President, Nunoo Mensah, who is also the President of the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC), was also crowned the Chairman of the Year, for his selfless and dedicated leadership, which resulted in the successes chalked by the GWF in the year under review.

“We are going to soar higher in 2017, by using our achievements in 2016 as a stepping stone and continue to promote and develop the sport across the country.

“We thank our partners for having faith in us, as we continue to give hope to the many young talented Ghanaians in the sport of Weightlifting”.

The annual award ceremony is aimed at recognising sports personalities for their diverse roles towards the development of sports in the country.