The Nigerian quartet of Esther Okon, Toheebat Jimoh, Jecinter Lawrence and Patience Okon-George secured the country’s fourth gold medal as they retained the women’s 4x400m title at the 24th African Athletics Championships, which concluded in Ghana, www.aclsports.com reports.
On the final day of the Championships, the team delivered a composed and dominant performance, stopping the clock at 3:29.25 to finish comfortably ahead of Ethiopia, who took silver, while Kenya claimed bronze.
Okon-George anchored the quartet to victory once again, securing her second gold medal of the competition after also playing the same role in Nigeria’s mixed 4x400m relay win earlier in the championships.
In the women’s 200m, Rosemary Chukwuma added another medal to her haul with silver in 23.60s, bringing her total in Ghana to three medals after earlier winning gold in the 4x100m and silver in the 100m. Maboundou Kone of Côte d’Ivoire won the race in 23.36s.
The men’s 200m title went to Cheickna Traore of Côte d’Ivoire in 20.32s, with Phaezel Prince Selepe of Botswana finishing second in 20.43s, while South Africa’s Mihlali Xotyeni took bronze in 20.57s. Nigeria’s Chidi Okezie placed sixth in the final.
In the men’s 4x400m relay, Nigeria missed out on a podium finish as Zimbabwe won gold, Kenya claimed silver and Morocco secured bronze.
Nigeria finished the Championships with four gold medals, including three from relay events and one individual gold from Tobi Amusan, alongside five silver and three bronze medals for a total of 12 medals. Placed fourth overall, the team trailed Kenya, South Africa and Ethiopia in the final standings.
Kenya topped the medal table with six gold, four silver and seven bronze medals for a total of 17, while South Africa followed with six gold, two silver and six bronze medals. Ethiopia finished third with five gold, four silver and six bronze medals.
