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Team Nigeria finished in fifth position on the medals table after the final day of the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago, Saturday PUNCH reports.
Nigeria’s Destiny Agbo claimed the first gold medal for Nigeria and made history as she wins first-ever Para gold medal in Women’s Discus Throw – F42-44 / F61-64 at the on-going Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad & Tobago.
The atmosphere at Hasely Crawford Stadium was electric as Agbo took the gold from England’s Bibi Jackson taking the silver and Martha Nengola of Namibia, taking the bronze.
“I’m so happy. Everything is really good. I promised my country I would make them proud. I’m happy for my coach and my family,” said Agbo.
Team Nigeria’s impressive outing at the seventh edition of the Commonwealth Youth Games got even better with Samuel Ogazi winning the men’s 400 meters gold medal with a time of 46.99secs.
Ogazi’s winning time was almost a full second, ahead of silver medallist, Austin Malachi of Guyana, who was 2nd in 47.97secs and England’s Beck Alexander who clinched the bronze finishing in 48.20secs.
Nigeria’s next medals were gold and silver as Faith Okwose blazed her way into the record books at the Hasely Crawford Stadium on Monday setting a new women’s 100m record at the event with an impressive time of 11.26secs to secure the event’s gold medal.
Okwose’s path to victory began earlier in the day and accelerated during the semifinals, where she dashed to a quality time of 11.42secs to surpass the previous Games record.
However, her compatriot Justina Eyakpobeyan, with an equally impressive performance, outshined Okwose’s achievement by clocking in at 11.35secs in a later semifinal race.
Undeterred, Okwose showed her resilience as she returned to the final event to lower the record yet again and set a new personal best with her remarkable 11.26secs run. Her teammate Eyakpobeyan secured the silver medal with a still-impressive time of 11.29secs.
The final night was excellent for Nigeria as they won three gold medals, including a Games record winning time of 42.68secs in the 4x100m mixed relay. They also claimed both 200m titles, with Ogazi and Okwose claiming the double in both the men’s and women’s event.
Again, Okwose and Justina followed each other as Okwose won the women’s 200m gold in a time of 23.36secs while her compatriot Justina settled for the silver medal again with her time of 23.47secs.
In the men’s race, Ogazi put up another dominant performance; claiming the gold with a time of 21.22secs while compatriot Okon Sunday narrowly missed out on a podium finish as he settled for fourth position with a time of 21.94secs.
Team Nigeria finished in fifth with eight medals – six gold and two silver medals behind Africa’s best performing nation South Africa who finished fourth with 20 medals – seven gold, six silver, and seven bronze medals.
Australia sits at the summit with 26 gold, 17 silver and 21 bronze medals totaling 64, England finished second with 49 medals having won 16 gold, 23 silver and 10 bronze medals; while Scotland took third place with 12 gold, 11 silver, and five bronze medals which all amounted to 28 medals.
Nigeria competed at the Games being held in the Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago with 25 athletes, all aged between fourteen and eighteen years.