African Games: Tuesday is a busy day for Team Nigeria athletes in Ghana
It will be a busy Tuesday for Team Nigeria athletes at the ongoing All Africa Games in Accra, Ghana, medals are expected to start rolling in for Nigeria with triple jumper, Ruth Usoro and shot putter, Chukwuebuka Enekwechi leading the charge.
Usoro, who will be seeking to win her first African Games gold medal, is the overwhelming favourite to win the triple jump gold and become the third Nigerian winner of the event in Games’ history after Rosa Collins in 1995 and Grace Anigbata five years ago.
With a personal season’s best and African lead of 13.89m, Usoro expected to win the gold with the 14.70m Games record seen to be out of her reach, for now.
Enekwechi on his part is tipped to successfully defend the title he won with a 21.48m five years ago.
With a 21.63m personal season’s best and the best mark by an African so far this year, the 31-year-old is expected to rewrite the Games record on his way to
becoming the first Nigerian and fourth African to successfully defend a Shot Put title.
Sade Olatoye will be keen to make history as the first Nigerian woman to win the Hammer Throw gold in the history of the Games but she will need to throw as near as her 70.86m to realise that dream
The Nigerian will have to battle Zahra Tatar of Algeria who tops the African list with the 67.04m she threw at the start of the month in Oran, Algeria.
The duo of Olajide Olayinka and Justina Eyakpobeyan will be the cynosure of Nigerian eyes as they bid to upset Gambia’s Gina Bass and win the women’s 100m gold.
Bass seems in a class of her own as far as the competition in Accra goes and it will take a new lifetime best run from either Olajide or Eyakpobeyan to stop Bass on her track.
The same scenario may likely play out in the men’s final as Cameroon’s Eseme Emmanuel stands between the Nigerian duo of Consider Ekanem and Ushoritse Itshekiri and the 100m gold.
In the mixed relays, Nigeria stands a chance of picking the gold if the duo of Chidi Okezie and Dubem Nwachukwu come in to run.
In the women’s high jump, 17-year-old Ewa Peace will be aiming for the sky to upset her more established competitors, especially Ghana’s Rose Amoanimaa Yeboah who holds a personal season’s best of 1.88m and holds a 1.94m lifetime best.
