Nigeria’s Imaobong Nse Uko fulfilled expectations by coasting home to gold in the women’s 400m event on day at the ongoing World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya.
Nse Uko came to the Championships as the fastest among the contenders following the 51.70 seconds she ran to win the gold at the Edo 2020 National Sports Festival in April and lived up to pre-race hype by becoming the third Nigerian woman to win the event’s gold after Fatimah Yusuf in 1990 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria and Olabisi Afolabi in Lisbon, Portugal in 1994.
The 17-year old ran a new 51.55 seconds personal best to achieve the feat. The time further extended her record as the fastest U18 athlete in the world in 2021 and the 17th fastest in the Nigerian all-time list.
Speaking after her victory, Nse Uko days her feat at the 2020 World U20 Athletics championships is just the beginning of greater heights in her career.
“It was very tough because of the weather. This is just the beginning of great things in my career. My coach and I really worked hard on this, I’m so excited, it would only get better. Coming here to make so much impact makes me feel so happy. It means more hard work but the future is so bright.”