Team Nigeria added 3 GOLD, 2 Silver and 3 Bronze medals to take her medal tally to twelve on Day 3 of the 21st African Athletics Championships taking place in Asaba, Nigeria, with Long Jumper Ese Brume providing one of the biggest highlights of the day.
Brume came into the Championships needing to win GOLD in order to become the first athlete (male or female) to win three individual Long Jump GOLD titles in the history of the competition.
Cheered by the home crowd, the 2014 Commonwealth Games Champion achieved that feat in style, equalling her Personal Best (PB) of 6.83m while also defending her title to claim victory in the final of the Long Jump. Precious Okoronkwor placed 5th in the final.
Nigeria’s second GOLD came in another field event as Chioma Onyekwere pulled out a big throw of 58.09m in the third round of the women’s Discus Throw final to claim victory. The win is an upgrade for Onyekwere who had to settle for 3rd place two years ago in Durban, South Africa. Her compatriot, Chinwe Okoro, took the Silver with a 57.37m throw.
The 4x100m women’s team were responsible for Nigeria’s third GOLD medal on the day. After winning Bronze at the Commonwealth Games in April, the same quartet of Joy Udo-Gabriel, Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteguonor, Tobi Amusan and Rosemary Chukwuma fended off competition from Team Ivory Coast to win in 43.77s.
In the men’s category, Nigeria’s 4x100m quartet of Ogho-Oghene Egwero, Divine Oduduru, Emmanuel Arowolo and Seye Ogunlewe had to settle for a Silver medal after the South African team pipped them to claim victory.
Nigeria’s two Bronze medals came in the quatermile event. Yinka Ajayi finally won a first individual senior medal for herself as she returned home with a time of 51.34s. Patience Okon-George placed 5th in the race.
In the men’s final, Chidi Okezie’s late attack on Baboloki Thebe and Thapelo Phora wasn’t enough as the quater miler had to settle for a 3rd place finish in the final, clocking a time of 45.65s. Orukpe Eraiyokan was 5th in 46.38s.
After competing in ten events in the space of two days, Nigeria’s Samuel Osadolor placed third in the men’s Decathlon, winning Nigeria’s third Bronze on the day.
The duo of Martins Ogieriakhi and Abejoye Oyeniyi qualified for the final of the men’s 110m hurdles final, while Mike Edwards narrowly missed out on the podium in the men’s High Jump final, placing 4th with a best jump of 2.15m.
