Onojuvwevwo Chases Nigeria’s First Commonwealth 400m Gold in 36 Years
Ella Onojuvwevwo will attempt to end one of Nigeria’s longest waits for a Commonwealth Games athletics title when she lines up in the women’s 400m final at Scotstoun Stadium on Saturday.
The 21-year-old Nigerian has been drawn in lane six and enters the final with a personal and season’s best of 49.47 seconds, the third-fastest mark among the eight finalists behind Jamaica’s Dejanea Oakley and defending champion Sada Williams of Barbados.
But the race carries significance far beyond the medal table.
Nigeria has won the women’s Commonwealth Games 400m only once, when Fatima Yusuf produced a historic performance at Auckland 1990 to claim gold in a Games-record and Nigerian-record 51.08 seconds.
Yusuf also made it a Nigerian 1-3 on the podium, with compatriot Charity Opara taking bronze in 52.01. Yusuf returned four years later to win silver at Victoria 1994, but Nigeria has not been back on top of the event since.
Onojuvwevwo now has the opportunity to become only the second Nigerian woman to win Commonwealth Games 400m gold and the first since Yusuf 36 years ago.
The Nigerian challenge has come close to producing another champion since Yusuf’s era.
At the 2010 Games, Folashade Abugan initially appeared to have won gold after crossing the line first in 51.39 seconds, ahead of Botswana’s Amantle Montsho. Abugan, however, was subsequently disqualified for an anti-doping rule violation, with Montsho awarded the title.
Montsho went on to retain the Commonwealth crown in 2014, becoming another dominant figure in the event.
Nigeria has continued to reach the final, with Margaret Etim finishing seventh in 2010 and Yinka Ajayi placing eighth in 2018, but neither could return the country to the podium.
Onojuvwevwo arrives in Glasgow with a considerably stronger credential.
Her 49.47 is not only a personal best but also puts her among the leading contenders in a final that includes Oakley, Williams, England’s Yemi Mary John, Canada’s Lauren Gale, Wales’ Charlotte Henrich, Scotland’s Nicole Yeargin and Botswana’s Obakeng Kamberuka.
The historical journey of the African women’s 400m also began before Yusuf’s triumph. Uganda’s Judith Ayaa became the first African woman to win a Commonwealth Games medal in the event when she claimed bronze in 1970.
Twenty years later, Yusuf became the first African woman to win Commonwealth Games 400m gold.
Now, 36 years after Yusuf’s breakthrough, another Nigerian stands on the starting line with the opportunity to restore the country to the top of the podium.
