Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games bronze medalist, Ese Brume’s younger brother, Godson Oghenebrume failed to achieve his ambition of following his older sister’s example on the podium, as he fell short in the men’s 100m at the ongoing World U-20 Athletics Championship in Nairobi, Kenya, megasportsarena.com reports.
Unlike the heroics achieved by his older sibling in Tokyo, Oghenebrume’s bid to end Nigeria’s 25 year wait for a global youth championships gold medal failed Thursday at Kasarani Stadium in Nairobi, where the 18-year-old stumbled out of the blocks and failed to regain his rhythm.
It was a race in which he been pre-competition joint-favourite, along with Leslie Tebogo of Botswana, as Oghenebrume arrived in Nairobi as the fastest man in the field, with 10.13s, and he had earlier won both his first round and semi-final heats to set up a showdown with Tebogo.
The man from Botswana ran 10.11 seconds in the semi-final to set a new national record, but things fell apart in the final, as Oghenebrume failed to recover from an awful start and finished last with 10.74, while Tebogo ran 10.19 to win his country’s first ever global 100m title.
The last time Nigeria made it to podium in the event was 25 years ago when Francis Obikwelu made his history as the second man after Trinidad and Tobago’s Ato Boldon to win the 100 and 200m titles, such that Oghenebrume’s setback means a longer wait to get glory for his nation.
