Team Nigeria have secured their best-ever gold medal haul at the Youth Olympic Games after winning three gold medals at the Dakar 2026 edition in Senegal.
The three medals, all won in athletics, surpassed Nigeria’s previous record of two golds at the inaugural Youth Olympics in Singapore in 2010.
Gift Bright, Rosemary Nwankwo and Praise Ugoh claimed the gold medals in the men’s 100m, women’s 100m and women’s 400m respectively.
Bright opened Nigeria’s gold medal account with victory in the men’s 100m, clocking a Games record and personal best of 10.28 seconds with a favourable wind reading of +1.7m/s.
He became the first Nigerian to win the men’s 100m title at the Youth Olympics, finishing ahead of China’s Zhang Hangyu, who recorded 10.57 seconds. Poland’s Szymon Dolega took bronze in 10.61 seconds.
Nwankwo followed with gold in the women’s 100m, crossing the finish line in 11.16 seconds in a wind-assisted race.
Her win completed a historic sprint double for Nigeria, making the country the first to win both the men’s and women’s 100m titles at the same edition of the competition.
She also became the third Nigerian woman to win the event, following Josephine Omaka in 2010 and Rosemary Chukwuma in 2018.
Arwa Ali of the United Arab Emirates finished second in 11.41 seconds, while Qatar’s Dana Salem claimed bronze in 11.48 seconds.
Ugoh completed Nigeria’s gold medal collection with victory in the women’s 400m, setting a personal best of 52.76 seconds.
She became the first Nigerian to win the event at the Youth Olympics after edging Venezuela’s Osmary Pacheco, who finished in 52.85 seconds. Aisha Muhammed of the United Arab Emirates took bronze in 53.06 seconds.
The National Sports Commission (NSC) and other Nigerian sports officials have praised the athletes’ performances, describing them as evidence of the country’s emerging sprint talent and progress in grassroots sports development.
Team Nigeria currently sit 13th on the medal table, with their campaign at the Games scheduled to end on Friday, November 13.
