EIGHTEEN-year-old South African sprinter of Nigerian descent, Udeme Okon, has secured a gold for South Africa in the men’s 400m gold at the World Athletics U20 Championships.
Okon came from behind to win the gold medal at the event held at Lima in Peru, running 45.69 to win the gold ahead of two Americans, Jyaden Davis (46.08) and Sidi Njie (46.29).
Announcing Okon’s victory on X, World Athletics wrote: “It’s Okon’s moment.
“South Africa’s Udeme Okon claims the 400m gold with an incredible comeback in the home straight 45.69.”
Okon has now succeeded Lythe Pillay who won it for South Africa at the 2022 edition of the World U20 Championship in Columbia.
While Nigerian athletes faltered at the ongoing World U-20 Athletics Championships, South Africa has now won the men’s 100m and 400m golds.
On Wednesday, August 28, Paris Olympics finalist, Prestina Ochonogor, finished fifth in the women’s long jump with a 6.21m leap.
In the women’s 100m final, Justina Eyakpobeyan, who also ran in the women’s 4x100m in Paris, couldn’t fulfil expectations as she placed seventh at 11.63s.
Seeded in lane two, Eyakpobeyan was the only Nigerian, male or female, to make the 100m final in the competition. She had secured an automatic spot, getting to the line at 11.56s to finish 2nd in her semi-final heat.
In the men’s 400m, Gafar Badmus was reported to have secured fifth place in his semi-final heat within 47.43 seconds, falling short of the finals.
Meanwhile, Caleb Joshua, who initially finished third in his heat, was later disqualified for a lane violation.
The victory of South African sprinter Okon, who was born to a Nigerian father, has sparked mixed reactions on social media, with many believed to be from South Africa applauding his feat, while some Nigerians are calling them for not throwing him out.
Recall that The ICIR reported that the Nigerian-South African model, Chidinma Adetshina, withdrew from the Miss South Africa pageant following a series of xenophobic attacks after making it to the top 16 at the pageant competition.
“After much careful consideration, I have made the difficult decision to withdraw myself from the competition for the safety and well-being of my family and, with the support of the Miss South Africa Organisation, I leave with a heart full of gratitude for this amazing experience,” she had said.
Before that, the South Africa Department of Home Affairs in a statement signed by the spokesperson for the Minister, Duwayne Esau, claimed that Adetshina’s mother illegally obtained South African citizenship.
These actions led to a series of cyber attacks from both Nigerians and South Africans on X.
Reactions trail Okon’s victory
An X user, Bobo Ekong, wrote “Where are the South Africans that bullied Chidinma out of Miss Universe pageant? Where is Gayton Makinzie the Sports Minister? What is he doing now that Udeme Okon is winning Gold for SA, I was thinking they will investigate Okon based on name,does that name sounds Zulu,Xhosa etc.”
Another user, Oceans, said, “So a Nigerian is still representing South Africa and they are not complaining. So why the noise about Chidinma and no noise about Udeme Okon?”
A South African user on X, Tebogo Koma, said although the name ‘Okon’ doesn’t sound like South Africa’s, they will fully accept him.
“That name doesn’t sound South African “Udeme Okon”, but if he’s legal, then we fully support him,” Koma wrote.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: [email protected]. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M