Nigeria’s Chukwuebuka Enekwechi secured the initial gold medal for Nigeria in the athletics competition of the current 2023 African Games in Ghana, coming in first in the men’s shot put final on Tuesday, according to PUNCH Sports Extra.
The Africa indoor record holder effectively protected his African Games title by achieving a 20.06m mark, surpassing Egypt’s Mostafa Hassan (20.70m) and Mohamed Hamza (20.29m) who landed in second and third place.
Another Nigerian, Emeka Ugwu, also competed in the final but finished fifth with a mark of 16.43m.
Meanwhile, Nigeria did not secure the men and women’s 100m titles as Usheoritse Itsekiri won silver in the men’s final, while Olayinka Olajide settled for bronze in the women’s event on Tuesday.
Nigeria had a strong representation of four athletes in both finals, but this did not ensure dominance on the podium.
Itsekiri, who previously won bronze in Rabat 2019, ran 10.23s to finish second, while compatriot Consider Ekanem missed out on the podium after finishing fourth in 10.42s. The race was won by Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme (10.14s), while Namibia’s Gilbert Hainuca secured bronze in 10.29s.
In the women’s final, Olajide finished third with 11.55s and secured bronze in her first international outing for Nigeria. The race was won by Gambia’s Gina Bass, who clocked 11.36s, and was followed in second place by Liberia’s Maia McCoy (11.49s).
Nigeria’s other representative in the women’s 100m final, Tiana Eyakpobeyan, finished fifth in 11.60s.
