Chidi Okezie claimed a historic gold medal in the men’s 400m at the 13th African Games in Accra, Ghana on Wednesday, becoming the first Nigerian to achieve this since Innocent Egbunike in 1987.
The 30-year-old who was opening his season at the African Games won the final with a Personal Best time of 45.06s, a massive improvement from his earlier one of 45.60s set in 2021.
The win was Okezie’s first senior international gold medal after winning bronze medals in Rabat four years ago and two other bronze medals in the 400m and the 4x400m relay of the 2016 and 2022 African Championships respectively.
Favourite, Zambia’s Muzala Samukonga placed second in 45.37s while Cheikh Diouf won the bronze medal in 45.49s. Nigeria’s other representative in the final, Dubem Nwachukwu, finished a disappointing 8th in 47.13s.
Okezie, a 2012 World U-20 relay champion’s winning time also took him to top 10 in the list of quartermillers in the country.
In the women’s 400m, Kenya’s Mary Moraa defeated Esther Joseph, claiming the gold medal in 50.57s while Joseph settled for the silver medal in 51.61s. Burkina Faso’s Sita Sibiri ran a National Record time of 51.74s to win bronze medal.
