Nigeria has won its first gold medal at the ongoing African Senior Athletics championship in Asaba.
Oluwatobiloba Amusan opened the country’s account on Thursday in the women’s 100m hurdles event with an unbelievable time of 12.86 seconds.
The victory means Amusan has now qualified to represent Africa at the IAAF Continental Cup at Ostrava in the Czech Republic in September.
“I am not surprised because I have prepared hard for this all year. I don’t care about timing when it comes to championships,” she said.
“So, you really don’t have to focus on time but to go out there and compete,’’ Amusan said after the race.
About competing in Ostrava, Amusan added: “I am really excited to run against the world’s best, even though I have been racing with them all year.
“But my target at the Continental Cup is to do the best I can.
“After this Championships, I will head back to the U.S., prepare for the next IAAF Diamond League events, such as the ones in Birmingham (UK), Zurich (Switzerland) and Brazil,’’ she said.
Nigeria’s Enekwechi Chukwuebuka also won the gold medal in the men’s shot put, while compatriot Temilola Ogunrinde clinched silver in the women’s hammer throw.
Meanwhile, the President, Confederation of Africa Athletics (CAA), Hamad Malboum, on Thursday commended the Delta Government for hosting the ongoing 2018 Africa Senior Athletics Championships and apologised for the delay in starting the competition.
Malboum gave the commendation when he spoke to journalists at the Media Centre of Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba, venue of the championships.
Malboum said that Lagos was given the hosting right two years but that the state did not finalise with CAA before it was given to Asaba.
“We appreciate the efforts of the organising committee, we gave the right two years ago, the event was given to Lagos but Lagos didn’t finalise on time and we opted for Asaba.
“I visited Asaba to inspect the stadium but what I meant was not a palatable one but what we have today is a big transformation,” he said.
