Nigerian sprinting is in red-hot form after Gift Bright and Rosemary Chigozie Nwankwo won gold medals in the men’s and women’s 100m finals at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games on Sunday 8 November.
Rosemary Nwankwo kicked off Nigeria’s medal charge in the women’s 100m, commanding her race from start to finish, to stop the clock in a wind-assisted 11.16 (+2.4m/s). The United Arab Emirates’ Arwa Ali won silver in 11.41 and Qatar’s Dana Salem took bronze in 11.48.
“There was no pressure on me. I run my race. I focused on me, and I did it,” said Nwankwo, who retained the women’s 100m title won by compatriot and namesake Rosemary Chukwuma eight years ago at the Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires 2018.
“I have prayed for this moment, and I did it! I was not expecting a very good time like this, I was expecting 11.2 but [11.16] happened.”
Already with senior level experience in her locker, Nwankwo came into this competition with a wealth of experience behind her.
Speaking about how this has helped her, she said: “the experience [at senior competitions] has made me stop being scared [of racing]. I don’t need to be scared again. I [have] competed with seniors and I believed in myself and I did it.”
Less than 10 minutes later, her compatriot Gift Bright stormed to victory in the men’s 100m final, making it two gold medals for Nigeria on the opening day of the Athletics competition at the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar.
Bright delivered a fine sprinting performance, running a personal best of 10.28 seconds with the rest of the field unable to catch him. China’s Hangyu Zhang won silver in 10.57 and Poland’s Szymon Dolega took bronze in 10.61.
“The toughest thing here has been my injury. I’m scared when I run,” said Bright after the race. “I was having pain, I was praying every day to God to give me healing.”
“Today I have no pain. I was not nervous, or scared, because before my heats, I told myself no pressure. Just let it go in the final, do what I have to do.”
Until today, Nigeria had never won double gold in the men’s and women’s sprint event at an Olympic event.
Elsewhere… Kenyan double distance gold
Kenya also struck double gold on the track as Abigael Kosgei clinched the victory in the women’s 2000m steeplechase final and Enock Tuitoek won the men’s 3000m title.
Kosgei pulled away from Ethiopia’s Abera Mekonen in the final stages of the race to claim gold in a personal best of 6:30.24. Mekonen took silver in 6:32.15 and Turkiye’s Elif Celik won bronze in 6:36.99.
Uganda’s Rachael Chelimo finished in fifth place with 6:49.59.
Kenya’s second gold came from Enock Tuitoek in the men’s 3000m final, as he battled with Ethiopia’s Goytom Mekonen down the home-straight before crossing the line in first place.
Tuitoek won the race in 8:07.69 while Mekonen took silver in a personal best of 8:08.24 and France’s Meziane Benhammou claimed bronze in 8:11.59.
A tightly contested women’s triple jump final saw Burkina Faso’s Zalissa Zongo win the bronze medal with a jump of 12.67m – just two centimetres off the gold.
Romania’s Amelia Negulescu recorded the same mark as Zongo, though was awarded the silver on count-back. Gift Okunrobo of Spain sealed the title with a mark of 12.69m.
Burkina Faso claimed yet another bronze medal as Ibrahim Sawadogo recorded an equal personal best of 7.23m to reach the podium in the men’s long jump final. Japan’s Kok Hasebe won gold with 7.45m, while Bulgaria’s Stiliyan Orlinov took silver with 7.30m.
Togo’s Emmanuel Tchaye finished in fifth place with a mark of 6.51m.
The men’s hammer throw final saw Ecuador’s Patry Arroyo Valdez win the title with a mark of 73.27m. South Africa’s John-Pierre Theron claimed silver with 71.79m and Egypt’s Mohamed Ismail took bronze with 69.72m.
Speaking about his performance, Theron said: “This is my first international competition. This type of experience is invaluable, you can’t get it anywhere else. The competition is just about how you handle it. I think I handled it very very well and we are happy with [the silver medal].”
Kelly is a London-based sportswriter driven by a love for sport, with track and field at the heart of it. She began her journey as a sports reporter covering women's football, and has since gone on to cover major international competitions, including the Paris 2024 Olympic Games for Eurosport.
She breaks up her excessive screen time by running laps around the park or planning her next holiday!
