Nigeria’s Imaobong Nse Uko fulfilled expectations by coasting home to gold in the women’s 400m event on day four of the ongoing World Athletics U-20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya.
Nse Uko came to the Championships as the fastest among the contenders following the 51.70 seconds she ran to win the gold at the Edo 2020 National Sports Festival in April and lived up to pre-race hype by becoming the fourth Nigerian woman to win the event’s gold after Fatimah Yusuf in 1990 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria and Olabisi Afolabi in Lisbon, Portugal in 1994 and Folashade Abugan in 2008 in Poland.
The 17 year old ran a new 51.55 seconds personal best to achieve the feat. The time further extended her record as the fastest U18 athlete in the world in 2021 and the 17th fastest in the Nigerian all-time list.
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Poland’s Kornelia Lesiewicz ran 51.97 seconds personal best to finish behind Nse Uko and bagged the silver medal, while Kenya’s Eken Sylvia Chelangat picked the bronze with her 52.23 seconds personal best finish.
4 Comments
The sports minister will want to take all the glory, forgetting that all glory belongs to God.
Congrats Uko, the petite dynamite. One of Nigeria s rising athletics stars, alongside Brume & Amusan. At least, these ladies look the age.
Nse Uko wonderful performance.
Celebration time for Nigeria contigent as Favour Ofili came up with the Bronze in the women’s 200m and Onwuzurike capped it all with the men’s 200m gold.congratulations to them and more grace to increase the medal haul tomorrow.