TEAM Nigeria won one more gold medal on the final day of the 2024 African Senior Athletics Championships in Douala, Cameroon.
The gold medal was won by the women’s 4×400m relay in a time of 3:27.31 seconds ahead of Botswana and Zambia. But it was not enough to qualify for the Olympics in Paris.
Chinecherem Prosper Nnamdi, won a silver medal in the men’s Javelin with a throw of 79.22m, finishing behind Julius Yego of Kenya who threw 80.24m. Moustafa Mahmoud of Egypt was 3rd with 77.25m.
Yego becomes the second man in Championships history to win the title three times in a row, after South Africa’s Gerhardus Pienaar who won in 2002, 2004 and 2006.
Yego also made history to win the Javelin throw gold five times following wins in 2012, 2014, 2018, 2022 and now 2024.
At the end of the grueling, feisty and equally scintillating six days of competition at the Stade de Japoma, in Douala, on Wednesday, Nigeria secured five gold, six silver and four bronze medals to finish second behind South Africa. Kenya which won the last edition came 3rd.
Nigeria finished third on the overall medal table at the 2022 edition held in Port Loius, Mauritius with 11 medals made up of five gold, three silver, and three bronze to rank behind Kenya and South Africa.
Team Nigeria got most of its medals from the women athletes, who won a total of four gold, three silver and two bronze.
Their male counterparts secured one gold, two silver and two bronze medals. With an additional Silver medal from the 4x400m Mix 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 in 2018 and retained it in Mauritius in 2022.
Women’s discuss thrower, Obiageri Amechi upgraded her status by winning silver this time around after she settled for bronze 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.
Nigeria’s Women’s 4x100m relay squad, led by Tobi Amusan easily secured the gold medal in Douala.
One major setback for Nigeria had on the track in Douala was Amusan’s inability to defend her women’s 100m hurdles due to illness.
New national Record Holder in the women’s High Jump, Temitope Adeshina, lost the gold to her Ghanaian challenger, as she had settled for a silver medal.
Nigeria was hoping to win two gold medals in the women’s 100m and 200m events, but those hopes were dashed after U.S.-based sprinters, Favour Ofili and Rosemary Chukwuma pulled out of the Championships at the semi-finals stage without the knowledge of the AFN technical officials.
This is Team Nigeria’s medal table at the Championships:
GOLD MEDAL
Men’s Shot Put:
- Chukwuebuka Enekwechi
Women’s Discus:
- Ashley Anumba
Women’s Long Jump:
- Ese Brume
Women’s Relay:
- 4×100m
Women’s Relay:
- 4×400
SILVER MEDAL
Women’s Hammer:
- Sade Olatoye
Mix Relay:
- 4×400m
- Men’s Javelin:
- Chinecherem Prosper Nnamdi
Women’s Discus:
- Obiageri Amaechi
Women’s High Jump:
- Temitope Adeshina
Men’s Relay:
- 4×100m
BRONZE MEDAL
Women’s Discus:
- Chioma Onyekweri
Men’s Long Jump:
- Goodness Iredia
Men’s 400m
- Samuel Ogazi
Women’s 400m
- Esther Elo Joseph
Meanwhile, the 23rd African Senior Athletics Championships will go down in history as one of the most disorganised competitions as testified by a good number of elite athletes.
What The Athletes Say About The Championship
NAOMI AKAKPO – Togo’s 100 metres hurdles specialist
“We (Africa) already have a rotten image… Instead of trying to rise and have good Championships with good organisation by showing that we can have a world level, here we are only reinforcing those who criticise us. We are disorganised, late and not up to par. Clearly, even the Departmental Championships are better organised than that, it is very disappointing. It doesn’t put the African continent forward.”
MARIE JOSE TA LOU – Cote D’Ivoire sprint queen
“I’m hurt and disappointed. Coming here I had so many expectations. So much! If we want to think about change, we need to do better. We now have some high-level athletes. My team has to take a Yango (taxi) to the stadium because the transportation sucks. And on top of that, we in the taxi we see another African team with a police escort. Like, why not do it for everybody?”
LETSILE TEBOGO – Botswana’s and African rising sprint star
“There is a lot of disorganisation in Douala, you do warmup and you’ll stay 1 hour to be called, it’s a lot of disorganisation, timing is of the essence in athletics, that is why I didn’t run.
“I’m hoping on the President of the Confederation of African Athletics to look into the situation and bail us out.
“The semifinal I’m going to run, but if this sad occurrence happens again in the final I won’t run, because this is my home.”
ARTHUR CISSÉ – Ivorian athlete
“I did not hear the starting pistol in the 400m race.
“I saw everyone running before I started running. I didn’t hear anything… it’s not professional. This is the African Championship.”
EMMANUEL ESEME – Cameroon’s 13th African Games gold medalist
“I will say that it was a very difficult day because with the programming which was not very well organised, I was not qualified for the final. So, I came home, and then they called me that we had to come back. I took Yango very quickly. Arrived at Yassa, there was a traffic jam and I had to take the motorbike”
FABRICE HUGUES ZANGO – Burkina Faso, African Record holder in the men’s Triple Jump
“It’s never easy. In Africa, we have a lot of things to improve on, but the big stars must be here to inspire the youth. Their presence (at the African Championships) is really important.”
The next edition of the African Seniors Athletics Championships will hold at the University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana, in 2026.
- Additional information courtesy of AFN Media Support Team
Eighteen-Eleven Media