CAA U18/U20: NIGERIA’S ATHLETES SHOW CLASS AS IKWESI WINS FIRST MEDAL IN HIGH JUMP. (PHOTO).

 CAA U18/U20: Nigeria’s athletes show class as Ikwesi wins first medal in high jump

ABEOKUTA – Nigeria’s Praise Ikweki has won bronze medal in High Jump event being the first medal for the country at the ongoing combined Confederation African Athletes U-18/U-20 Championships commenced yesterday at the MKO Abiola Sports Arena, in Abeokuta, Ogun state. The continental showpiece witnessed the finals of high jump, triple jump and 1500m and the 100m heat for both males and females categories.

Ikwesi, who paired with Melvin Ododo, started from 1.80m, achieving perfect record until a near missed at 2.03m before he won his third attempt to scale to the next round. He missed his three attempts at 2.06m after hitting the pole, paving the way for South Africa’s Mateo Le Roux, who won the gold. In the U-18 Heat One 100m event race, South Africa’s Mukona Manavhela finished 11.38, behind Nigeria’s Igbigbidje James Clifford 11.44 to qualify for the semi-final.

Also, Adeola Adeniji Muideen took the lead finishing 11.08 while Algeria Bouhdila Yasser, who finished 11.14, to grab the semi-final ticket in the Heat 2. Jayen Foure ran swiftly to finish 10.65 behind Egbon Destiny Chinedu 10.85 in the Heat 3. In the female category, Nigeria’s Mariam Jegede won the first heat of the U18 Girls 100m clocking a time of 12.13s while Congo’s Boukama Gladys finished second in 12.47s and Ghana’s Darkoah Kwateng ran 12.64s to settle for third.

In the heat 2, Miracle Ezechukwu out ran her opponents in the U18 Girls 100m heats, clocking a time of 11.79s (0.1). She beat South Africa’s Oluchi Ndubueze, who ran 11.93s, and Cote d’Ivoire Andre Marie Joseph, who finished third in 12.26s.

In the heat 3, Chigozie Rosemary Nwankwo ran away with the win in h of the U18 Girls 100m. In the U20 100m heat, Nigeria’s Lucy Nwankwo recorded a new Personal Best (PB) of 11.80s (-0.5) to win her 100m heat while Success Oyibu won heat 1 of the U20 women’s 100m at clocking a time of 11.87s (-1.4). In a chat with Ikwesi, he described his bronze medal as not his desired goal, attributing his inability to scale through in 2.06 to pressure upon him.

He stressed that the exposure gained at the championship would propel him to achieve his target for gold ay the All Nigeria. “It was too much pressure. I actually wanted to make a standard here before, but it was not possible because of the pressure, but I will try to make the standard at the All Nigeria for the world championship trails,” he said.