Get Guardian on GoogleTeam Nigeria’s camp came alive yesterday when female quartermiler, Tejiri Ugoh Praise, beat the field to win the country’s third gold medal at the ongoing Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games.
Yesterday’s gold medal makes Dakar 2026 Nigeria’s best-ever outing at the Youth Olympics, which began 16 years ago in Singapore.
Praise won the gold medal in the women’s 400m with a time of 52.76 seconds. The victory came a day after Team Nigeria won the two available gold medals in the male and female 100m on Sunday evening.
At the inaugural edition of the Youth Olympics 16 years ago, Nigeria won a total of four medals, made up of two gold, one silver and one bronze, to be ranked 29th overall in the world. Eight years later in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Nigeria also got a total of four medals, made up of one gold and three silver medals to finish in 48th position on the general medal table.
Speaking on the team’s performance, yesterday, the Director General of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Bukola Olopade said: “Today, Nigeria’s youngsters showed that we are a people from a great country. It shows that when things are done correctly, we excel. Winning four gold medals so far at the Youth Olympics is like the Flamingos winning the World Cup. All of them within three days.”
