Nigeria’s campaign at the 2024 Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) U18/U20 Championships got off to a promising start on Tuesday, as Praise Ikweki delivered the country’s first medal—bronze—in the men’s high jump at the MKO Abiola Stadium in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Ikweki, competing in a tightly contested final alongside teammate Melvin Ododo, overcame an early scare at 2.03m to secure a place on the podium. After clearing all earlier heights cleanly, the Nigerian missed twice at 2.03m before nailing his third and final attempt. However, his bid to scale 2.06m fell short, handing the gold medal to South Africa’s Mateo Le Roux, who cleared the height with ease.
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Meanwhile, Nigeria’s young sprinters lit up the track during the heats of the U18 100m event. Igbigbidje James Clifford secured qualification to the semifinals in Heat 1, clocking 11.44s just behind South Africa’s Mukona Manavhela (11.38s). In Heat 2, Adeola Adeniji Muideen impressed with a dominant 11.08s run, holding off Algeria’s Yasser Bouhdila (11.14s).
Heat 3 was another thriller as South Africa’s Jayen Foure stormed to a 10.65s finish, narrowly ahead of Nigeria’s Destiny Chinedu Egbon, who clocked 10.85s to also progress.
In the U18 girls’ 100m, Nigeria’s Mariam Jegede comfortably won Heat 1 in 12.13s ahead of Congo’s Boukama Gladys (12.47s) and Ghana’s Darkoah Kwateng (12.64s). But it was Miracle Ezechukwu who stole the show in Heat 2, blazing to the fastest overall time of 11.79s. The Nigerian sprinter held off South Africa’s Oluchi Ndubueze (11.93s) and Côte d’Ivoire’s Andre Marie Joseph (12.26s) in a thrilling finish.
With medals already rolling in and several sprinters advancing to the semifinals, Team Nigeria is off to a solid start in front of their home crowd. The Championships continue on Wednesday with more opportunities for the host nation to add to their medal haul.
 U18/U20 Championships got off to a promising start on Tuesday, as Praise Ikweki){kind=link}