Oyo-born Enoch Adekoge pulled out of 100 metres men’s final event in Tokyo today, leaving Italy’s Lamont Marcell Jacobs to claim Olympic gold in the keenly-contested race.
While Lamont on Sunday broke retired Jamaican star Usain Bolt’s 13-year hold on the blue riband event, Nigeria’s Adegoke was forced to stop midway, holding his thighs, with anguish boldly written all over his face.
Jacobs, 26, timed a European record of 9.80 seconds, with American Fred Kerley taking silver in 9.84sec in one of the most understated major 100m races in recent times.
Canada’s Andre de Grasse, a bronze medallist at the 2016 Rio Games, repeated the feat as he ran a 9.89seconds.
Adegoke who in the course of the competition had broken Nigeria’s records in athletics, on Sunday became Nigeria’s first 100m Olympic finalist since 1996 clocking 10.00s in heat 2 of men’s 100m semis.
He used the biggest platform in sports, the Olympics to join the exclusive club of sub-10 seconds runners after running 9.98 seconds to win his first-round heat which also booked his place in the semi-finals of the 100m event in Tokyo.
With this feat, he becomes the 11th Nigerian in history to run a sub 10.
Adegoke raced again into Nigerian history books as the third man to make the final of the 100m event at the Olympics after the duo of Davidson Ezinwa and Olapade Adeniken.
The reigning Nigeria speed king had given himself a chance of making history when he came second behind Britain’s Zhana Hughes to secure the second automatic slot and qualify for the final.
The other Nigerian in the event, Ushoritse Itshekiri pulled up at the finish to exit the competition with a 10.29 seconds performance. He ran 10.15 seconds in his first-round heat.
