Team Nigeria on Sunday ended their campaign at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Oregon, the U.S. with an impressive 18th place finish out of a total of 43 countries which participated.
Tobi Amusan’s record-breaking performance in the 100 metres hurdles and Ese Brume’s impressive effort in the women’s long jump ensured Nigeria finished on a high note.
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Team Nigeria indeed saved their best for the last day of the championships after what seemed like another poor outing for the country at the event.
This was when Amusan broke the 100m hurdles world record in the semi-finals with an astonishing 12.12 seconds and followed up with a (+2.5) wind-assisted 12.06 seconds to win Nigeria’s first gold medal at the championships.
The feat by the 25-year-old meant that she made history as the first Nigerian to win a world title and an unprecedented world record in one day.
Team Nigeria would go on to celebrate another podium finish in the long jump with Brume’s extraordinary effort.
The Commonwealth and African record-holder long jumper leapt over 7.02m to clinch the silver medal, behind rival Malika Mihambo of Germany who jumped a record 7.12m for the gold medal.
The victory for the team on Sunday also meant Nigeria finished as the fourth best African team at the championships behind Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.
Ethiopia and Kenya each finished the world championships with a total of 10 medals.
Ethiopia led the way in second place with four gold medals, the second most by any country, while Kenya finished in fourth place.
Uganda finished 14th position on the table with three medals.
For the first time, the World Athletics Championships was held on American soil.
The U.S. ended the competition with a total of 33 medals, more than three times as many as any other country in the competition and more than any single country has ever won at a world championship.
This includes 13 gold medals more than any other country.
The Americans swept the podium in three separate events: the men’s 100m dash, the men’s 200m dash and the men’s shot put.
The last day of competition was no exception for Team USA’s dominance at Oregon22.
Four Americans made it to the podium on Sunday, including gold medal performances from Athing Mu in the women’s 800m, the men’s 4x400m relay and the women’s 4x400m relay.
In total, athletes from 43 countries are going home with at least one medal.
The championships which began on July 15 ended on Sunday after 48 event finals. (NAN)
