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Team Nigeria will return from Douala, Cameroon, venue of the just concluded 23rd African Senior Athletics Championships today.
The team won one more gold and a silver medal on the final day to finish third behind South Africa and Kenya on the medals table.
Overall, Nigeria got five gold, six silver and four bronze medals in Douala as against five gold, three silver, and three bronze the country won at the 2022 edition held in Port Louis, Mauritius, where the nation also finished third behind South Africa and Kenya on the medals table.
To former African sprints champion, Endurance Ojokolo, the performance in Douala is commendable considering the ‘several’ setbacks the team encountered in the championships.
“By my calculation, we lost four gold medals due to the setback we encountered here,” Ojokolo, who is a member of the technical crew, told The Guardian, yesterday.
“Tobi Amusan would have easily picked the gold in the 100m women’s hurdles, but she was sick on our arrival.
Favour Ofili could have given us the gold in women’s 100m and even the 200m, but she pulled out after qualifying for the semifinal in the 100m.
“Even the men’s 4x100m gold could have come to Nigeria, if we had Favour Ashe.
The 4x400m Mixed Relay was a sure gold for us, but something went wrong along the line. If we were able to capture three of those gold medals I just mentioned, South Africa would have finished far behind us in this competition because they benefited more from the setback we encountered,” Ojokolo stated.
On the final day, the women’s 4x400m relay grabbed a gold in a time of 3:27.31 seconds ahead of Botswana and Zambia. But it was not enough to qualify them for the Olympics in Paris.
Men’s Javelin thrower, Chinecherem Prosper Nnamdi, added a silver medal with a throw of 79.22m.
Meanwhile, U.S.-based AFN Performance Director, Victor Okorie, has praised the athletes, coaches and other officials for displaying the ‘true’ Nigerian spirit in Douala.
“Look at the large number of athletes from South Africa (53), Kenya (55) and Ethiopia (63). We only came to Douala with 34 athletes. The host country, Cameroon paraded (52). Despite the low number, we could have won the championships so easily but for the setback we encountered here. I thank the Sports Minister for helping us out and also to our president, Tonobok Okowa, who has spent so much of his money for this trip to come to pass,” Okorie stated.
While Team Nigeria got most of her medals from the women athletes, who won a total of four gold, three silver and two bronze, the male athletes secured one gold, two silver and two bronze medals, with an additional silver medal from the 4x400m Mixed Relay.
Among the athletes, who defended their titles in Douala is Chukwuebuka Enekwechi, who won the men’s Shot Put event. He won the title at Asaba 2018 and retained it in Mauritius 2022.
Women’s Discus thrower, Ashley Anumba, upgraded her status by winning gold this time around. She won a bronze medal two years ago in Mauritius.
One of Nigeria’s most consistent athletes, Ese Brume, lived up to her hype as she retained her gold medal title in the Long Jump, while the country’s women’s 4x100m relay squad, led by Tobi Amusan, easily secured the gold medal in Douala.
New national Record Holder in the women’s High Jump, Temitope Adeshina, lost the gold to a Ghanaian, as she settled for the silver medal.
The host nation, Cameroon, with a record entry of 52 athletes, finished in the 17th position on the final medals table, with just two silver and four bronze medals.
Although some Nigerian athletes left Douala yesterday for their respective bases, other members of Team Nigeria are expected to arrive in Lagos this evening.
English (US) ·