23rd African Athletics Championships: Nigeria’s 28 year wait for Javelin gold medal extended as Yego makes history
Nigerians will have to wait for at least two more years to see an African champion in the Javelin throw after Chinecherem Prosper Nnamdi failed to make history on the day curtains were drawn on the 23rd edition of the African Athletics Championships in Douala, Cameroon.
Nnamdi came into the championships as the African leader in the event following the 82.80m he threw in March to win the African Games title for the first time for Nigeria since 1995 when Pius Bazighe threw 77.56m to become the third Nigerian winner of the event.
The 21 year old was expected to rewrite Nigeria’s story in the event like he did in Accra but he failed to fulfil expectations, throwing 79.22m to finish second behind Kenya’s 2015 World champion, Julius Yego who threw 80.24m. Moustafa Mahmoud of Egypt was third with his 77.25m effort.
Nigeria was last crowned champion in the event in 1996 when Bazighe threw 74.78m to win, incidentally in Cameroon where Nnamdi has just won a silver medal.
Meanwhile, Yego has become 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 has also made history to win the Javelin throw gold five times followings wins in 2012, 2014, 2018, 2022 and now 2024.
