U-20 World Athletics: Nigerian-born Okon wins 400m gold medal for South Africa

Udeme Okon has won a gold medal for South Africa in the 400m at the U-20 World Athletics Championships in Peru.

Born in South Africa to a Nigerian father, Okon is the new World Junior champion, winning the 400m junior title with a time of 45.69 seconds.

Okon timed his move to perfection, finishing strongly in the last 50m to claim gold in the 400m at the U-20 World Championships.

He was impressive as he overtook two front-running Americans to win in Lima on Thursday night (Friday morning Nigerian time).

The 18-year-old Grade 11 pupil from Florida Park High School in Johannesburg beat Jayden Davis (46.08 seconds) and Sidi Njie (46.29 seconds) to retain gold for South Africa after Lythe Pillay’s success in Colombia two years ago.

Okon only started competing in athletics last year, and within this period, he has gone on to become a World Junior champion.

In just one year of being in athletics, he is already making an impact. He is very talented and will turn 19 on Tuesday, September 3, 2024.

It is, however, ironic that while Okon just won gold for South Africa, another Nigerian, Chidimma Adetshina, was barred from participating in a beauty pageant in the country.

Adetshina, who was born in South Africa, has a Nigerian father, and her mother has Mozambican roots, was controversially forced to withdraw from Miss South Africa.

She recently made headlines after her citizenship sparked controversy on social media, with some people calling on the organisers of the Miss SA pageant to disqualify her, alleging she was not South African.