Nigeria’s first Olympic medalist, Maiyegun, dies at 85

Nigeria’s first medalist at the Olympic Games, Nojim Maiyegun, is dead.

Maiyegun, The Guardian gathered, died during the late hours of Monday at the age of 85.

According to multiple sources, Maiyegun died of natural causes in Vienna, Austria, where he had been living for years. His death was also confirmed by another Nigerian, Stephen Ogboh, who is an acquaintance of Pa Nojim in Austria.

The late Olympic champion was reportedly visually impaired and had been in and out of the hospital for the past six months before his eventual death.

Maiyegun’s death came just a few days after the 60th anniversary of his feat when he won a bronze medal in boxing on 10 August 1964 at the Olympics in Tokyo.

He shared the bronze medal with Józef Grzesiak of Poland in the Light Middleweight category.

At the Olympics, the two losers in the semifinals are traditionally awarded the bronze medal, as there is no third-place bout.

It was the first time since Helsinki 1952, when Nigeria started participating in the Games, that he won a medal.

Maiyegun ended Nigeria’s 12-year winless streak at the Olympics.

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He was born on 17 February 1941 in Lagos and achieved a historic feat for Nigeria by winning a bronze medal in the men’s Light Middleweight (71 kg) category at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.

He was Nigeria’s first Olympic medalist. Not much was heard of him until 2012 when his loss of vision was made public.