Youth Olympics: Ugoh wins third gold medal for Nigeria

Praise Ugoh looks on after winning the women's 400m final.

Nigeria won its third gold medal at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games on Monday after Praise Ugoh triumphed in the girls’ 400 metres, lifting the country to 11th position on the medal table.

Ugoh produced an impressive personal-best time of 52.76 seconds to win the 400m title, becoming the first Nigerian to claim gold in the event at the Youth Olympic Games.

The Nigerian finished ahead of Osmary Pacheco, who clocked 52.85 seconds, while Aisha Muhammed settled for bronze in 53.06 seconds.

Her victory adds to Nigeria’s growing success in athletics at the Games, following Sunday’s historic sprint double by Rosemary Chigozie Nwankwo and Gift Bright in the girls’ and boys’ 100m events.

Nwankwo won the girls’ 100m in a wind-assisted 11.16 seconds to become Nigeria’s third champion in the event, while Bright made history as the first Nigerian to win the boys’ 100m title, clocking a personal-best 10.28 seconds.

Ugoh’s triumph takes Nigeria’s gold-medal tally to three, making it the country’s most successful campaign at the ongoing competition in terms of gold medals.

Nigeria breaks into medal table’s top 11

Ugoh’s victory has lifted Nigeria to 11th position on the medal table, with three gold medals and no silver or bronze medals, according to the latest standings as at the time of this report.

The latest position represents a significant improvement from Sunday’s joint 14th-place ranking, following the victories of Nwankwo and Bright.

Nigeria is now just outside the top 10, with Kenya occupying fifth position on four gold medals, while Senegal is sixth with four gold medals and three bronze medals.

China leads the standings with 13 gold, seven silver and three bronze medals, giving it 23 medals overall. Japan are second with nine gold, six silver and five bronze medals, while Russia and Egypt occupy third and fourth positions, respectively.

Nigeria’s other athletes also featured in Monday’s athletics programme, although they did not reach the podium.

Rita Chisom Ezeh finished seventh in the second semi-final of the women’s 400m hurdles, recording 1:01.66.

Colombia’s Michell Carolina Gomez won the race in 59.96 seconds, ahead of Switzerland’s Mina Hirsbrunner (1:00.12) and Brazil’s Larissa Schon (1:00.38).

In the men’s high jump final, Obanla Ehuwa finished eighth after clearing a personal-best height of 1.97 metres.

South Africa’s Matao Le Roux won gold with an equal personal-best clearance of 2.16m, while China’s Liu Sen took silver with a personal best of 2.14m. Egypt’s Mohammed Zaki claimed bronze with 2.09m after a countback.

The Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, the first edition to be staged on African soil, began on 31 October and will run until 13 November.

Tunde Eludini is a graduate of the Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, Nigeria where he studied International Relations. He is a Senior Correspondent coordinating the sports section for PREMIUM TIMES. Twitter: @tundeyeludini