• She Is Nigeria’s First World U20 Field Event Gold Medalist

Director General of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Bukola Olopade, has showered encomium new kid on the block, Jessica Oji, who etched her name into the history books on Thursday night after becoming Nigeria’s first-ever field event gold medallist at the World Athletics U20 Championships, producing a championship-winning throw of 18.08m in Oregon, USA.

“I saw her victorious throw last night and I was not surprised,” Olopade told The Guardian, on Friday.

“Jessica had promised all who cared to listen that she was going to win the gold. I congratulate her, and I thank her for her patriotism, pe severance, confidence and Nigeria can do spirit. The future is extremely bright for this very bright athlete,” Olopade stated.

Fresh from the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, the 19-year-old Orji, who entered the competition as the world U20 leader, delivered her winning mark in the opening round before backing it up with another 18.07m effort to secure victory in a high-quality final.

Her gold-winning performance also established a new Nigerian U20 record, improving on her previous mark and confirming her status as one of the brightest young throwers in the world.

Oji finished ahead of Ecuador’s Belsy Jenniffer Quiñónez, who claimed the silver medal with a personal best of 17.90m, while Germany’s Emily Scherf took bronze after throwing 17.23m. Italy’s Anita Nalesso placed fourth with 16.50m, narrowly ahead of Ukraine’s Anhelina Shepel, who managed 16.42m.

Although Oji fell just short of her world-leading indoor mark of 18.50m set earlier this year in New York, her winning throw proved more than enough to secure Nigeria’s first-ever World U20 title in a field event, marking another landmark achievement for the nation’s athletics programme.