Ese Brume‘s four medal haul, Divine Oduduru‘s sprint double, Abdullahi Bashiru hurdle surprise, and Temidayo Osinbanjo spirited heptathlon finish were the highlights of the final day as Team Nigeria won the African Junior Athletics Championships (AJC) in Addis Ababa on Sunday.
[link id=”5″ tax=”category” text=”Nigeria”] retained the African Junior Championships title, won two years ago in Port Louis, [link id=”173″ tax=”category” text=”Mauritius”], by topping the medals table in the Ethiopian capital with 12 Gold, 8 Silver and 6 Bronze medals.
Commonwealth and African Long jump champion, [link id=”502″ tax=”post_tag” text=”Ese Brume”] was the stand out performer with three gold medals and one bronze after winning the women’s Triple jump, Long jump and anchored the 4x100m relay team to victory on Saturday.
The Nigerian golden girl also got a bronze medal in the women’s 100m event on Friday.
Brume showed her class on Sunday with a championship record of 6.33m (-0.7) to win the long jump gold in the final round ahead of Carla Johnson of South Africa (5.92m, -0.5) and Esraa Mohammed Samir Owis of Egypt (5.89m, +1.5)
Her compatriot [link id=”504″ tax=”post_tag” text=”Divine Oduduru”] added the 200m gold medal to the 100m he won on Friday clocking 21.22 secs for victory ahead of another Nigerian, Victor Peka (21.53) and Congolese Gilles Anthony Afoumba (21.59).
The reigning Youth Olympic Games Champion, Sydney Siame, from Zambia was all sorts as he finished last in the final clocking a time of 22.21.
FINAL #MedalsTable: 12th #AfricanJuniors Championships 2015
Recap Day 1-4 on our Liveblog: http://t.co/fgDN57I9nb pic.twitter.com/lC3OfC4Fse
— Athletics Africa (@athleticsafrica) March 8, 2015
Seyaum and Kejelcha classy for the host
Oregon 2014 World Junior 1500m champion [link id=”663″ tax=”post_tag” text=”Dawit Seyaum”] was a class apart as she led an Ethiopian 1-2 in the women’s 1500m.
Seyaum Biratu won gold for the host in 4:15.94 ahead of her compatriot Besu Sado Beko (4:17.11) and Kenyan Iveen Chepkemoi (4:26.19).
[link id=”82″ tax=”category” text=”Ethiopia”]’s world youth 3000m champion and reigning IAAF world junior 5000m champion, [link id=”389″ tax=”post_tag” text=”Yomif Kejelcha”], destroyed the men’s 5000m field to win the gold by a mile.
Kejelcha clocked 14:31.03 for victory with Kenyans Fredrick Kiptoo (14:34.06) and Daniel Kipkemoi Maemba (14:39.32) settling for silver and bronze medals respectively.
The four-day championship was brought to an end with a brief closing ceremony where the [link id=”174″ tax=”post_tag” text=”CAA”] flag was officially handed over to [link id=”98″ tax=”category” text=”Algeria”] who will host the 13th edition of the African Junior Athletics Championships in 2017.
You can [link id=”9469″ text=”recap the four-day championships on our Live Blog”]
Selected Results – 2015 African Junior Championships
400m Hurdles Women FINAL
Gold: Gizelle MAGERMAN (59.41) South Africa
Silver: Daisy AKPOFA (1:00.35) Nigeria
Bronze: Glory NATHANIEL (1:00.51) Nigeria
200m Women FINAL
Gold: Praise IDAMADUDU (23.76) Nigeria
Silver: Tegest TAMANGNU YUMA (23.84) Ethiopia
Bronze: Aniekeme ALPHONSUS (24.19) Nigeria
200m Men FINAL
Gold: Divine ODUDURU (21.22) Nigeria
Silver: Victor PEKA (21.53) Nigeria
Bronze: Gilles Anthony AFOUMBA (21.59) Congo
110m Hurdles Men FINAL
Gold: Abdullahi BASHIRU (13.99) Nigeria
Silver: Ifeanyichukwu ATUMA (14.22) Nigeria
Bronze: Amine BOUANANI (14.24) Algeria
800m Men FINAL 1500m Women FINAL
Gold: Patrick Kiprotich RONOH (1:50.21) Kenya
Silver: Jonah Kipruto KOECH (1:50.88) Kenya
Bronze: Temam TURA WAYO (1:51.06) Ethiopia
Gold: Dawit SEYAUM BIRATU (4:15.94) Ethiopia
Silver: Besu SADO BEKO (4:17.11) Ethiopia
Bronze: Iveen CHEPKEMOI (4:26.19) Kenya
3000m Steeplechase Women FINAL
Gold: Stella Jepkosgei RUTTO (10:22.47) Kenya
Silver: Zewdine MAMO TEKLEMARIAM (10:31.40) Ethiopia
Bronze: Mihret TEFERA ADHENA (10:37.26) Ethiopia
5000m Men FINAL
Gold: Yomif ATOMSA KEJELCHA, #Ethiopia (14:31.03)
Silver: Fredrick KIPTOO, #Kenya (14:34.06)
Bronze: Daniel Kipkemoi MAEMBA, #Kenya (14:39.32)
Long Jump Women FINAL
Gold: Ese Brume, Nigeria (6.33m – CR )
Silver: Carla JOHNSON, South Africa (5.92m)
Bronze: Esraa MOHAMED SAMIR OWIS, Egypt (5.89m)
Shot Put Women FINAL
Gold: Monique WAGNER, South Africa (13.96m)
Silver: Judith ANIEFUNA ANULIKA, Nigeria (13.53m)
Bronze: Amele YIBELTAL MULUADAM, Ethiopia (12.23m)
Javelin Throw Women FINAL
Gold: Jo-Ann VAN DYK, South Africa (49.47m)
Silver: Kelechi NWANAGA, Nigeria (46.46m)
Bronze: Shura UTURA JILO, Ethiopia (43.85m)
4x400m Relay Women FINAL
Gold: Nigeria (3:38.94)
Silver: Ethiopia (3:48.57)
4x400m Relay Men FINAL
Gold: Botswana (3:11.00)
Silver: Ethiopia (3:11.19)
Bronze: Nigeria (3:11.20)
Heptathlon Women FINAL
Gold: Temidayo OSINBANJO, Nigeria (4765 points)
Silver: Kaiqtion KRUQUER, Namibia (4641 points)
Bronze: Nienka DU TOIT, South Africa (4490 points)
Meet The Authors
Yomog Meje is a former Nigerian junior athlete and the Associate editor at Athletics Africa.
