Team Nigeria’s duo of Favour Ofili and Rosemary Chukwuma were the stand-out athletes on Day 4 of the African U20 and U18 Championships taking place at Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, as both sprinters struck GOLD in the Girls’ and Women’s 200m final.
Ofili, who two days ago stormed to a new Personal Best (PB) of 52.27s to win the Girls’ 400m final turned on the afterburners to add the 200m crown to her burgeoning list of age-grade competition medals.
What made the win all the more special was the fact that she clocked a new PB of 23.39s to secure victory ahead of her Nigerian counterpart, Anita Taviore, who made up for her 100m loss to take home the Silver medal.
On Chukwuma’s part, the youngster outclassed the rest of the field to claim victory in the women’s 200m final in a Season’s Best of 23.81s. The win makes it a double for her as she had struck GOLD in the women’s 100m final two days ago. South Africa’s Antoinette Val Merwe took the Silver, while Nigeria’s Esther Okon won Bronze.
Although, Chukwuma couldn’t lower her PB in the event, the win still comes on the back of her impressive performance at the African Youth Games less than a year ago where she also won double titles.
In the male category, Nigeria’s duo of Enoch Adegoke & Favour Ekpekpe finished 4th and 5th respectively in the men’s 200m final, as Phatutshedzo Maswanganyi & Luke Davids of South Africa took home GOLD and Silver in the event. Ghana’s Edwin Gabayi got the Bronze.
Away from the sprints, middle distance runner, Yinka Bantefa competed in the Girls 800m where she finished 5th in her heat, while Salisu Habib was Nigeria’s best performer in the event, placing 2nd in his heat with a time of 1:55.98.
