Nigeria’s Praise Ikweki on Wednesday secured a bronze medal in the High Jump event at the ongoing Confederation of African Athletes (CAA) U18/U20 Championships in Abeokuta.
The competition featured the finals of high jump, triple jump, 1500m, and the 100m heats for both male and female categories.
Ikweki, paired with Melvin Ododo, began at 1.80m. He posted a perfect record until a near miss at 2.03m. He then secured advancement to the next round on his third attempt.
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 U18 Heat One 100m event race, South Africa’s Mukona Manavhela finished with a time of 11.38, behind Nigeria’s Igbigbidje James Clifford at 11.44, to qualify for the semi-finals.
Also, Adeola Adeniji took the lead, finishing 11.08, while Algeria Bouhdila Yasser finished 11.14, to grab the semi-final ticket in Heat 2.
South Africa’s Jayen Foure ran swiftly to finish 10.65 behind Nigeria’s Egbon Destiny Chinedu, who finished 10.85 in Heat 3.
In the female category, Nigeria’s Mariam Jegede won the first heat of the U18 Girls 100m after returning in a time of 12.13sec, while Congo’s Boukama Gladys finished in second place in 12.47sec.
Ghana’s Darkoah Kwateng ran 12.64 seconds to settle for third place.
Miracle Ezechukwu topped Heat 2 of the U18 Girls 100m with a time of 11.79s (+0.1 wind). She outpaced South Africa’s Oluchi Ndubueze (11.93s) and Cote d’Ivoire’s Andre Marie Joseph (12.26s) for the win.
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 after she finished in a time of 11.87s (-1.4).
Ikweki, stating after his race, expressed that the bronze medal was not his target and that he was under severe pressure to win.
He, however, said that the exposure gained at the championship would propel him to achieve his target for gold at the other local and international events.
