Nigerian-born Ituah Enahoro on Sunday joined the exclusive league of decathletes that have surpassed the 8000 point barrier after setting a Personal Best (PB) of 8028 whilst competing at the Thorpe Cup in Düsseldorf, Germany.
However, the 19-year old achieved this brilliant feat whilst donning German colours, and was the standout performer at the event which he already began to dominate from Day 1.
The Thorpe Cup is Germany’s traditional match against the USA, and the host team garnered a total of 38642 points to beat the American team which scored a total of 37321 points.
Enahoro set the following marks at the meet in Düsseldorf: 10.84s (100m), 7.64m (Long Jump), 14.44m (Shot put), 1.90m (High Jump), 48.02s (400m), 46.65m (Discus), 4.45m (Pole vault), 51.57m (Javelin), 4:27.94 (1500m) and 14.86s (110 Hurdles).
His new mark supersedes the Nigerian Decathlon Record pegged at 7252 points set by Peter Moreno two months ago in Bedford. It is also the third best performance by an U20 athlete in the world this year as only Germany’s Niklas Kaul (8435 points) and Johannes Erm (8141 points) of Estonia have done better.
The excited teenager took to social media platform Instagram to thank his fans and supporters. He said: “I’m speechless! Worked so hard and it paid off. The power that this jersey can give you is unimaginable! Thank you so much my Coach Dirk Zorn and the rest of the people who supported me.”
Enahoro who possesses dual citizenship, won a Silver medal in the Pole vault for Nigeria at the 2015 African Junior Championships. He subsequently began to compete for Germany after not being invited by the West African nation for further competitions.
He is currently studying Physiotherapy at Knesit outside Düsseldorf after being awarded a scholarship by the German government in collaboration with the Athletics Federation and Beyer AG, and enjoys full coaching and apparel support.
Good job Yemi, i nene know yu see am alumna frm ABU. My College. Toni Urhobo.