Team Nigeria capped a highly successful athletics campaign at the fourth African Youth Games in Angola on Saturday, finishing with an impressive haul of 11 medals to underline the country’s depth of emerging track and field talent.
The Nigerian contingent claimed six gold and five silver medals across sprint, middle-distance, hurdles, field and relay events, asserting clear dominance as athletics competitions concluded at the Games.
Nigeria set the tone early in the sprints, with Rosemary Chigozie Nwakwo powering to gold in the women’s 100 metres in 11.77 seconds.
She finished comfortably ahead of South Africa’s Oluchi Ndubueze, who took silver in 12.12 seconds, while Morocco’s Maria Saadi settled for bronze in 12.27 seconds.
In the men’s 100 metres, Emmanuel Akolo added to Nigeria’s medal tally with a silver medal after clocking 10.76 seconds, finishing behind South Africa’s Micah Africa.
The quarter-mile races further boosted Nigeria’s medal count. Hafsoh Majekodunmi delivered a commanding performance in the women’s 400 metres to secure gold in 55.16 seconds, ahead of Ethiopia’s Desta Kurni and Congo’s Maguerita Athouaby.
In the men’s 400 metres, David Udoh impressed with a strong run to claim silver in 47.77 seconds, narrowly losing out to South Africa’s Fairlie Jaydon.
Nigeria also made its presence felt in the field events, as Godswill Nkemakolam won silver in the men’s long jump with a best effort of 7.18 metres, finishing behind South Africa’s Jayden Fourie.
More medals followed in the hurdles and 200 metres events. Gift Gowon secured silver in the men’s 400 metres hurdles, while Tejiri Ugoh stormed to gold in the women’s 200 metres in 23.95 seconds, beating South Africa’s Isabella Gunter and Gambia’s Njie Adama.
In the men’s 200 metres, Perfect Faye continued his fine form by clocking a season’s best 21.47 seconds to earn silver.
The relay events provided a fitting finale to Nigeria’s athletics programme. The girls’ medley relay team of Miriam Jegede, Miracle Oluebube, Faith Ezechukwu and Jacinter Lawrence combined seamlessly to claim gold, while the boys’ medley relay quartet of Gift Gowon, Emmanuel Akolo, David Udoh and Tosin Solomon Essan also delivered a gold medal performance.
Nigeria’s 11-medal haul stood out as one of the highlights of the Games, further reinforcing the nation’s reputation as one of Africa’s leading producers of young athletic talent and signaling a bright future for the sport.
