It was a thrilling five-day competition for Team Nigeria at the African U18/U20 Athletics Championships in Zambia as they ended their campaign on a high note, claiming four medals on the final day of competition and cementing their place as one of the powerhouses in Africa.
Nigeria women’s U20 4×400m quartet — Queen Usunobun, Ada Bright, Joy Usenbor, and Opeyemi Oke — struck GOLD with a winning time of 3:38.64s. South Africa came in 2nd to claim the Silver medal in 3:40.07s while Zambia took Bronze in 3: 46.60s.
Their male counterparts finished out of the medals zone, placing 4th with a time of 3.11.92s. Botswana took the win in 3:08.14s while the host nation, Zambia (3:10.71), and South Africa (3:10.83) were 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Edward Godfred emerged victorious with a leap of 7.86m in the men’s U20 Long Jump ahead of South Africa’s Asande Mthembu (7.78m) and Morocco’s Zaid Latif (7.77m).
Nicholas Arinze won the Silver medal in the boys’ U18 400m hurdles with a time of 53.10s, behind eventual winner Matozdi Ndo of South Africa (51.36). Amos Kipkemoi of Kenya was 3rd in 53.83s.
In the girls’ category, Gift Onedje also claimed the Silver medal with a time of 1:01.18s behind South Africa’s Tumi Ramokgopa (59.41s).
Nigeria finished 2nd on the medals table with 33 medals in total (15 GOLD, 9 Silver, and 7 Bronze). South Africa topped the table with 54 medals, while Kenya was 3rd with 29 medals.
