Nigerian athletes enacted a pulsating haul of medals on the penultimate day of action at this year’s World U-20 Athletics Championship in Nairobi, Kenya, as Udodi Onwuzurike won the men’s 200m gold medal and Favour Ofili got bronze in the female version of same distance.
It was a dramatic Saturday for the country and the entire continent, as the day marked a clean sweep for Africa in the men and women’s 200m finals with Nigeria, Namibia, Botswana and South Africa taking all six medals at stake.
In the women’s race, the top three contenders, Namibia’s Olympic Games’ silver medalist, Christine Mboma, her teammate Beatrice Masilingi and Nigeria’s Ofili, went all out for glory at blistering pace for each of them.
Megasportsarena.com reports that, although Ofili tried to keep up with the pair, she faltered a bit at the end, as Mboma smashed Masilingi’s one-day-old championship record, striking gold with 21.81.
That inspired Masilingi to a personal best of 22.18 as Ofili set a national U20 record of 22.23 to take the bronze, as African record-holder Mboma’s time in Nairobi was just 0.03 off her own world under-20 record set few days ago in Tokyo.
The men’s 400m hurdles final promises to be equally exciting, as six out of eight of the athletes finished the semi-finals with personal bests en route to their advancement to Sunday’s climax.
Europe’s under-20 gold medalist, Berke Akcam laid down the gauntlet with his stunning run in the first semi-final race, storming to a Turkish record of 49.73 to secure his spot as the fastest qualifier, spurring Jamaica’s Devontie Archer and Nigeria’s Ezekiel Nathaniel to lifetime bests of 49.93 and 51.39 respectively.
All three qualifiers from heat two also clocked personal bests, and leading the way was neutral athlete Denis Novoseltev, who set a new mark of 50.31, while Slovenia’s Matic Ian Gucek and Peter Kithome clocked lifetime bests of 50.56 and 50.90 to secure their spots in the final.
Joining them from heat three will be Sweden’s Oskar Edlund with a season’s best of 50.70, and Croatian Stjepan Jan Cik (51.83), but the day’s biggest heroics came from Onwuzurike in the men’s 200m final.
Prior to the championships in Nairobi, not much was known about Onwuzurike, but the 18-year-old has been in a class of his own since arriving in the Kenyan capital, where he is representing Nigeria for the first time in his career.
He had the fastest time of all the heats with 20.47 and stormed to a fast 20.13 in the semi-finals, which would have been a championship record but for the wind (2.4m/s).
In the final on Saturday, he was quick out of the blocks and came off the bend before everyone else, coasting home to gold with a Nigerian U20 record of 20.21, making him the country’s first 200m gold medalist at this level since 1996, when Francis Obikwelu won the sprint double.
Pre-championship favourite, Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, who was still recovering from running three rounds in the 100m as well as the 200m, settled for silver with 20.38, while South Africa’s Sinesipho Dambile took the bronze with a season’s best of 20.48.
Onwuzuruike, who was born in the United States, did not disappoint on Saturday when he stole the show in the 200m men’s final by claiming gold in a time of 20.21s, while pre-championships favourite, Letsile Tebogo, and South Africa’s Sinesipho Dambile settled for the silver and bronze respectively.
The winning time for Onwuzuike is both a personal best and a national under-20 record that broke a 25-year jinx for Nigeria in the 200m event since Obikwelu won in 1996 in Sydney, Australia.
With Chinecherem Nnamdi having earlier won the men’s javelin on Saturday, Nigeria now has three gold and two bronze medals at this year’s youth athletics championship in Nairobi, where Onwuzurike admitted he was deeply thrilled with his achievement.
Still beaming over his good fortune, Onwuzurike, whose father was at the stadium to cheer him, said afterwards: “It feels amazing. I had a very rough year and had injuries numerous times.
“I feel like my numbers weren’t really good and showing what I’m capable of, so coming out to show on the global stage that I’m the best is amazing.”
