Nigeria had a great day at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games on Sunday. Rosemary Nwankwo and Gift Bright both won gold medals in the girls’ and boys’ 100 metres events.
These victories gave Nigeria its first two gold medals at the ongoing Games in Senegal. They also showed that Nigeria has strong young sprinters.
Nwankwo started things off for Nigeria by performing impressively in the girls’ 100m final. She finished with a wind-assisted time of 11.16 seconds to take the gold.
She beat Arwa Ali from the United Arab Emirates, who took silver in 11.41 seconds. Dana Salem from Qatar took home the bronze in 11.48 seconds.
Nwankwo's win continues Nigeria's strong history in the girls’ 100m at the Youth Olympic Games. She is now the third Nigerian to win gold in this event. Josephine Omaka won gold at the first edition in Singapore in 2010, and Rosemary Chukwuma won in Buenos Aires in 2018.
Nwankwo showed her strength in the semi-finals as well, winning her heat in 11.53 seconds to qualify for the final.
Later in the day, Bright added to Nigeria's success by winning the boys’ 100m final. He achieved a personal best time of 10.28 seconds.
Bright finished ahead of Hangyu Zhang from China, who clocked 10.57 seconds for silver. Szymon Dolega from Poland took bronze in 10.61 seconds.
Bright's win is especially important because he is the first Nigerian to win the boys’ 100m title at the Youth Olympic Games.
The 15-year-old showed his potential in the semi-finals too, clocking 10.34 seconds to win his heat and have the fastest overall qualifying time.
In the final, he improved his time by six-hundredths of a second, bringing his personal best down to 10.28 seconds.
Nigeria's sprint wins came after a tough start to the Games. The country was looking for its first medal after swimming, table tennis, and beach volleyball competitions.
The athletics team had nine Nigerian athletes, including Nwankwo and Bright, who carried the hopes of the country in the sprints.
With these two gold medals, Nigeria has moved to joint 14th on the medal table. Nigeria has two gold medals, with no silver or bronze yet, placing it alongside Ecuador, which also has two golds.
China is leading the medal table with 11 gold, four silver, and two bronze medals, totaling 17 medals. Japan is second with nine gold, three silver, and four bronze. Russia follows in third with six gold and four silver medals.
Egypt and France are in fourth and fifth with eight medals each.
Nigeria hopes these sprint victories will give more energy to its other athletes as the country continues competing at the Games.
The Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games started on October 31 and will run until November 13. Young athletes from around the world are participating.
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