Nigeria’s Favour Ofili and South Africa’s Sinesipho Dambile were named the Best Athletes of the championship.

Team Nigeria ended its campaign at the African U20 and U18 Championships taking place at the Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on a good note, racking up seven medals on the final day of the competition.

With the team having to share dominance in the sprints alongside the South Africans, Nigeria proved their mettle in the hurdles and relays as the curtains drew on the championships.

Sarah Ochigbo won the country’s first medal on the day in the Girls’ 400m Hurdles where she posted a time of 1:03.13 to take GOLD ahead of Senegal’s Saphietou Boye (1:05.97) and Djamilatou Sanou of Burkina Faso (1:06.24).

In the Boys’ category, Ndiponke Okure settled for Silver, as he finished behind South Africa’s Luciano Custodio, while Egypt’s Youssef Badwy got the Bronze.

With two Nigerians-Olaolu Olatunde & Yusuf Rasheed in contention for a medal in the Boys’ Octathlon going into the last day, it was the latter who ensured that he didn’t leave the championships empty-handed, as he went on to claim Silver in the event.

Ese Awusa followed suit with a second place finish in the Girls’ Heptathlon, as Blessing Ovwighonadjebere also picked up the same colour of medal in the women’s category.

Furthermore, the Nigerian team continued from where they left off in the relays on Day 4 of the competition, as both the men and women’s 4x400m team claimed Bronze in their events.

The quartet of Blessing Oladoye, Blessing Ovwighonadjebere, Glory Patrick and Juliana Abayomi clocked to place 3rd in the women’s category.Team Ethiopia emerged champions in a time of 3:39.82, while South Africa was 2nd in 3:40.54.

Nnabukwo Gbaruko, Shedrach Akpeki, Nsikak Okon and Jeremiah Nathaniel also combined to finish 3rd in 3:20.15. Kenya won in 3:10.06, while Ethiopia was 2nd in 3:10.99

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Deji is one of the leading Athletics journalists in Nigeria as he possesses a deep passion for PR and branding athletes. He has extensively covered a wide range of sporting competitions, both within and outside Nigeria, with a particular focus on showcasing African Sports Stories. In addition to his journalistic prowess, he is well-versed in Sports Management and Marketing.

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