Rookie student at USA’s University of Pennsylvania, Jessica Oji is still basking in the euphoria of her historic gold medal at the ongoing World U20 Athletics Championship, where the ‘vibes and atmosphere’ in Team Nigeria’s camp inspired her to excel.
READ ALSO: World U20 Championships: Jessica Oji Delivers Historic Shot Put Gold for Nigeria in Eugene
Sports247 reports that 19-year-old Oji was beaming with delight in Eugene, USA, after she won the women’s shot put event and became the first Nigerian athlete to win a field event gold medal at the junior world championship.
Incidentally, before Oji’s historic feat on Wednesday, Nigeria’s previous field event medals were silver by Esther Aghatise in the women’s long jump in 2002 and Chinecherem Nnamdi’s bronze in the men’s javelin in 2021, but the country now has a first-ever World Athletics field event champion.
Oji, who was born in Accra, Ghana on June 23, 2007 and raised in United States, won this year’s women’s shot put title with a throw of 18.08 metres, after opening with 18.05m, improved to 18.08m, followed with 17.95m and finished with 18.07m.
It also marked a massive improvement for the chubby athlete whose collegiate impact started when she finished first in shotput with 18.45m at the Penn Elite meeting in January 2024, then placed first with a career best 18.50m at this year’s Ivy League Heptagonal Championships (February 28th – March 1st).
She also placed seventh at USA’s National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Championships in March, but ended the season in the NCAA First Team All-American (indoor shot put), First-Team All-Ivy (indoor shot put) and voted as Most Outstanding Field Performer in the Ivy League.
Interestingly, her gold medal in Eugene came just a week after she won silver in the same event at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, barely five months after she switched her allegiance from the United States and opted to represent Nigeria.
The breakthrough for Oji, who is currently ranked No. 30 in women’s shot put global ratings, came on the day of her Nigeria debut early this year, when she broke the long-standing African record of 18.43m set by Nigerian icon, Vivian Chukwuemeka in 2003.
The record placed her second in the NCAA rankings and above Mine de Klerk’s African mark of 18.48m set just a day earlier, but it was achieved before the switch in allegiance by Oji, who also holds the national under-20 record in discus throw with 55.12m, which she set in May 2026.
Oji, who was crowned USA U-20 shot put champion in 2025, also placed sixth in the NCAA Indoor Championships, but things turned around at this year’s Commonwealth Games, where her silver made her the next Nigerian woman to win a medal in the event since Chukwuemeka at Melbourne 2006.
Speaking during the Commonwealth Games, Oji said representing Nigeria is something she dreamt about for a long time and she feels fulfiled now that she has the opportunity of doing so, especially as the contingent’s camp atmosphere always inspires her to achieve great things.
“If I don’t compete for Nigeria, where else? I love the vibes, the atmosphere around the Nigerian camp and all around me here in Glasgow. I will go to the World U20 Championships to give my best,” said Oji, who continues receiving a torrent of accolades and messages of congratulations.
