Enekwechi, Anumba Shoot Nigeria to Top Spot in Continental Athletics Championships

Team Nigeria began its quest to win a record 9th African Seniors Athletics Championships title on a sound footing in Douala, the economic capital of Cameroon on Friday 21 June 2024.

With two gold medals from men’s Shot Put and women’s Discus, the Nigerian contingent stormed to the medals’ table after Day 1 action.

It was a clean sweep for Nigeria in the women’s Discus event with Ashley Anumba taking gold ahead of Obiageri Amaechi and Chioma Onyekwere settling for bronze medal.

Anumba recorded a throw of 59.30m in her final attempt, improving on 59.01m that kept her in the lead throughout the competition.

African Games Champion, Obiageri Amaechi claimed Silver with a distance of 58.80m while defending champion, Chioma Onyekwere settled for third place with a throw of 57.96m.

African Indoor Record holder and five times Nigeria champion in the men’s Shot Put, Chukwuebuka Enekwechi made it a hat trick of crowns in Cameroon after extending his dominance on the continent to six years, taking the first GOLD medal of the Championships.

Enekwechi who had won the last two editions of the competitions, Asaba 2018 and Mauritius 2022, improved by 2cm his Championships Record of 21.20m set two years ago in Saint Pierre, minning gold with a record of 21.22m.

Eight finals will be decided on Day 2 of the competition which include, men and women 100m, 4×400m mix relay, men’s 10,000m and women’s 100m hurdles.

The Senior Athletics Championships end on 26 of this month.