Team Nigeria continued her impressive showing at the African U20 and U18 Championships taking place at Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, increasing her medal haul by five on Day 3 of the biennial competition.
With the team dominating the sprints on Day 2 of the competition- churning in five medals in the process, the field athletes also proved their mettle today, as they accounted for three of the five medals that the country won today.
Princess Kara cut the first turf for Nigeria as she took her dominance on the home turf to the continent, claiming GOLD in the women’s Discus Throw final in a new Personal Best (PB) of 50.04m. Egypt settled for the Silver, while Ethiopia clinched Bronze in the event.
The mark was a massive improvement for Kara, with the thrower shaving off a massive 5.26m from her previous PB which she set just over two years ago in Port-Harcourt.
Nnamdi Chinecherem was another stand-out athlete on the day, scooping GOLD in the Boys’ Javelin throw with a mark of 74.71m. He dominated the event from his first throw of 71.92m. He was followed by Cote d’Ivoire while Burkina Faso settled for Bronze.
Also, Ruona Adogbeji won Bronze in the Girls’ Long Jump in what was her maiden outing for Nigeria. She recorded a best jump of 5.56m. The South Africans won GOLD and Silver with 5.82m and 5.80m respectively.
Nigeria’s Victoria Adunbi settled for Bronze in the final of the women’s 100m Hurdles, as South Africa cliched both GOLD and Silver in the event. Nigeria’s last medal of the day came in the Decathlon, with Erewa Law claiming Bronze in the junior category.
Furthermore, Nigeria and South Africa lead the way in the 200m Heats and Semis for both the Youth and Junior category.
Team Ghana dominated the first semis in the men’s 200m with a time of 21.01s. Nigeria’s Favour Ekpekpe was 3rd in the race,clocking a new PB of 21.42s. Meanwhile Team South Africa won the second semis with a time of 21.16s as Enoch Adegoke placed 2nd in 21.18s.
In the Girls’ category, Favour Ofili clocked the overall fastest time of 23.77s in the first semis, while Team Gambia won the second semis in 23.96s as Nigeria’s Anita Taviore placed 2nd. The 200m final for both categories comes up tomorrow.
