Enoch Adegoke’s bid to become the first Nigerian, man or woman to mount the podium for a blue riband event medal at the Olympics was thwarted about 40 metres into the race at the Olympic stadium in Tokyo, Japan Sunday evening.
The 21 year old had made history earlier on the night when he became only the third Nigerian man to qualify for the 100m final after the iconic duo of Davidson Ezinwa and Olapade Adeniken.
He also became the first Nigerian 100m finalist since Ezinwa placed seventh at the Atlanta 1996 Olympics.
The reigning Nigeria 100m king set a new 9.98 seconds personal best in his first round heat to raise expectations of a possible historic medal but in the final, a possible hamstring injury ensured he pulled up soon after the 40 metres mark and after overtaking Canada’s Andre De Grasse on his outside lane.
De Grasse would later finish third fuelling beliefs that Adegoke could have raced to the podium and history books.
His 9.98 seconds performance in his first round 100m heat in Tokyo made him the 11th man to break 10 seconds in the event in Nigeria and the 25th in Africa.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s medal hopeful, Ese Brume didn’t have much difficulty in qualifying for the women’s Long Jump final, as she leaped to a distance of 6.76m, 1cm ahead of the automatic qualifying mark. The final comes up tomorrow.
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