Nigeria enjoyed a successful Day 2 at the 2026 World Athletics U20 Championships in Eugene, Oregon, with Jessica Oji making history after winning gold in the women’s shot put, www.aclsports.com reports.
Oji became Nigeria’s first World U20 champion in a field event and the country’s first-ever World Athletics field event champion after producing a winning throw of 18.08m.
The 19-year-old, a silver medallist at the just concluded Commonwealth Games, took control of the competition early with an opening throw of 18.05m before improving to 18.08m on her second attempt. Ecuador’s Belsy Quinonez won silver with 17.90m, while Germany’s Emily Scherf claimed bronze with 17.23m.
Nigeria also secured a place in the 4x100m mixed relay final as the quartet of Tejiri Godwin, Chigozie Rosemary Nwankwo, Perfect Faye and Miracle Ezechukwu finished second in their heat in 41.91 seconds.
The performance set new Nigerian and African U20 records, while also making the quartet the fastest African U20 team in the event’s history.
Precious Opinion qualified for the men’s triple jump final with a personal best leap of 16.02m, the fourth-best mark in the qualification round.
Jecinta Lawrence and Faith Ezechukwu progressed from the women’s 400m heats after placing third in their respective races. Lawrence clocked 53.97 seconds, while Ezechukwu ran 54.38 seconds.
The pair were unable to advance beyond the semi-finals, with Lawrence finishing seventh in 54.86 seconds and Ezechukwu eighth in 54.68 seconds.
In the men’s 400m, David Udoh’s challenge ended after he was disqualified for a lane infringement following his heat.
