Nigerian sprinter Rosemary Chukwuma capped off her collegiate career with a podium finish, clinching the bronze medal in the women’s 100m final at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in her final year representing Texas Tech University.
Chukwuma clocked an impressive time of 10.90s (with a 2.2m/s wind) to secure third place in the highly competitive 100m final at the Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
The time was her sixth fastest time under all conditions.
The gold medal went to McKenzie Long of the United States, who won in 10.82s, while Jamaica’s Brianna Lyston took silver with a time of 10.89s.
Although she narrowly missed out on the top spot, Chukwuma’s bronze medal performance marked a remarkable achievement in her final NCAA competition.
It was an improvement from the last two years where she finished fourth and sixth respectively.
It was also the first time a Nigerian was making a podium finish since Blessing Okagbare won with University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) in 2010.
Another Nigerian, Tima Godbless, also participated in the 100m final, finishing seventh with a time of 11.10 seconds.