Tejiri Godwin, Bright Gift Lead Nigeria’s Bid for First World U20 Men’s 100m Gold Since 1996
Nigeria’s hopes of ending a 30-year wait for the men’s 100m title at the World Athletics U20 Championships will rest on the shoulders of Tejiri Godwin and Gift Bright when the sprint event gets underway in Oregon on Wednesday.
The duo will be aiming to emulate the feat achieved by Francis Obikwelu, who completed a memorable sprint double by winning both the 100m and 200m titles at the 1996 World U20 Championships in Sydney, Australia. Obikwelu remains the last Nigerian to win the men’s 100m crown at the global junior championships.
Before Obikwelu’s triumph, Davidson Ezinwa became Nigeria’s first World U20 men’s 100m champion in 1990, while Deji Aliu added a second title in 1994, making Nigeria one of the most successful African nations in the history of the event.
Tejiri Godwin appears to have the more favourable draw after being placed in Heat Two. The Nigerian, who owns a personal and season’s best of 10.20 seconds, will line up in lane nine against one of the event favourites, Great Britain’s Jake Odey-Jordan, whose season-best of 10.07 seconds makes him the fastest athlete in the race.
Brazil’s Jean Augusto Da Silva (10.31) and Slovakia’s Richard Machata (10.34) are also expected to challenge for the automatic qualification places. With the first three finishers in each heat and the next three fastest times advancing to the semi-finals, Godwin will be confident of progressing.
Gift Bright faces a more demanding assignment in Heat Seven. The 15-year-old Nigerian prodigy, who has clocked 10.39 seconds this season, will compete against South Africa’s Marko Ferreira (10.04), Japan’s Kai Sugano (10.16) and Hungary’s Krisztián Kalics (10.33).
Despite being one of the youngest athletes in the field, Bright has already demonstrated enormous potential and will be hoping to secure one of the automatic qualification spots or advance as one of the fastest losers.
The men’s 100m competition promises to be one of the highlights of the championships, with Jamaica’s Gary Card arriving in Oregon as the world U20 leader after clocking 9.93 seconds this season. Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo remains the holder of both the World U20 and Championship records of 9.91 seconds, set during the 2022 edition in Cali.
