The National Sports Commission (NSC) has congratulated 17-year-old swimming prodigy Abduljabar Adama and the Nigeria Aquatics Federation after his historic silver medal in the men’s 50m butterfly at the World Junior Swimming Championships in Otopeni, Romania.
Adama secured second place with a time of 23.64 seconds, finishing just 0.10 seconds behind Great Britain’s Dean Fearn, who won gold in 23.54 seconds.
In a statement issued on Sunday, NSC Director General Bukola Olopade hailed the feat as a landmark moment for Nigerian sport.
“Abduljabar Adama’s silver medal is a proud moment for Nigeria and for Africa. His hard work and talent have once again shown that our athletes can stand shoulder to shoulder with the best in the world,” he said.
Olopade added that the success underlined the importance of investing in young athletes: “This achievement is a reminder of our duty to provide the right support and structure to nurture talents like Adama. We believe this is just the beginning of many more international triumphs for him and Nigerian swimming.”
Adama impressed from the outset in Romania, clocking the second-fastest time overall in the heats with 23.61 seconds in a field of 116 swimmers across 12 races. He then dominated his semi-final, winning with an improved time of 23.48 seconds before narrowly missing out on gold in the final.
This latest medal adds to Adama’s growing list of honours. In March, at the 16th Africa Junior Swimming Championships in Cairo, Egypt, he captured three gold medals and a bronze while setting multiple records, including a new African junior record in the 50m freestyle.