Ogunkoya’s 100m African Championships record survives, Enekwechi still shot put record holder

Seun Ogunkoya’s 9.94 100m African Championships record set in Dakar, Senegal in 1998 is still the fastest time ever recorded in the history of the competition, 26 years after it was set while Chukwuebuka Enekwechi is still keeping the 21.20m record he set two years ago at the Championships.

The two are the only ‘surviving’ men’s African Championships record set by Nigerians in the competition.

Ogunkoya ran 9.94 against a high profile field that included 1992 Barcelona and 1996 Atlanta Olympics 100/200m silver medalist, the great Frankie Fredericks.

The Nigerian had earlier inflicted a rare defeat by a Nigerian on the Namibian at the Weltklasse Golden League meeting in Zurich, Switzerland barely days to the face-off at the African Championships in Dakar.

Ogunkoya won the race in Zurich, running 9.96 with Fredericks third in 10.04.

Revenge was written on Fredericks’ face in Dakar as he was seeking his pound of flesh against a Nigerian he had beaten four times that year prior to their meeting in Zurich.

Ogunkoya however triumphed again in Dakar, running a 9.94 Championships record to edge the Namibian who ran 9.97 to come second.

In the Shot Put event, Enekwechi did not only return Nigeria to the podium at the Championships but also became the second African to hit the 21m mark in the history of the competition.

His first winning throw on home soil in 2018 was 21.08m and it was a new Championships record. The then 29 year old improved on it in Mauritius two years ago to 21.20m which has remained the Championships record.