Israel Okon has booked his spot in the semi-final of the men’s 100m event at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
The rising star clinched first place in Heat 6 with a time of 10.04s, ahead of Great Britain’s Zharnel Hughes, who came second, and Italy’s Lamont Jacobs, who finished third.
At just 18, Okon ranked sixth among the seven heat winners, finishing ahead of Letsile Tebogho, the 200m Olympic gold medalist.
Okon, the current national 100m champion, has been drawn in Heat 3 of the semi-final scheduled for Sunday.
There, he will go up against a tough lineup that includes Tebogho, Botswana’s record holder, and South Africa’s Gift Leotlela, who clocked a personal best in the heats.
Kanyinsola Ajayi will also compete in the semi-final after recording a personal best of 9.88m to secure second place in Heat 1.
Meanwhile, it was a disappointing day for Nigeria in other events, beginning with Ese Brume in the women’s high jump. The medal contender managed 6.46m to place 10th in Group B, falling short of the final.
Prestina Ochonogor also crashed out, finishing last in Group A with a best effort of 6.05m on her second attempt.
Nigeria’s struggles continued in the women’s discus, where Chioma Onyekwere-Lyons and Obiageri Amaechi both failed to progress. Onyekwere-Lyons threw 59.45m to rank 12th, while Amaechi recorded 55.69m to place 16th out of 18 athletes in her group.
In the women’s 100m, Rosemary Chukwuma exited after clocking 11.27s in Heat 3, which left her in fifth position.
Nigeria’s hopes for a medal in the men’s shot put also ended in frustration as Chukwuebuka Enekwechi narrowly missed out, finishing fifth.
Enekwechi reached the final with a throw of 20.83m and improved to 21.52m in the final round, but it was not enough for a podium finish.
Ryan Crouser (USA), Uziel Muñoz (MEX), and Leonardo Fabbri (Italy) claimed gold, silver, and bronze, respectively, in the event.