By Victor Kanayo
Reigning African champion, Chukwuebuka Enekwechi, has won a silver medal after throwing 21.43m to come second in the Shot Put event at the 2023 USATF NYC Grand Prix held in Los Angeles, California.
Enekwechi opened with 20.94m to take the lead and improved to 21.43m in the third round after recording no mark in his second throw.
USA’s Payton Otterdahl who opened with 20.82m however responded in the third round by throwing 21.50m that proved enough to win the title.
National Sports Festival champion Ashley Anumba, moved 3-2 ahead of reigning African and Commonwealth Games Discuss Throw queen, Chioma Onyekwere, at the event.
Anumba threw 59.81m to come third in the event while Onyekwere threw 54.04m to place sixth in an event Cuba’s Yaime Perze threw 67.44m to win.
Anumba and Onyekwere were tied at 2-2 in their head to head clashes before the event but the former’s finish above Onyekwere means she is now ahead as they take their battle of supremacy to the Nigerian championships early next year.
Onyekwere seems to be struggling for form since the middle of April when she threw 64.96m to break the African record in the Discus Throw event.
The 28-year-old opened her season with her 60.79m effort at the UC San Diego Triton Invitational in San Diego, California in early April.
Meanwhile, a Nigerian 21-year-old boxer Adijat Gbadamosi stunned Zimbabwe’s Patience Mastara in a keenly contested bout to win the African Bantamweight title.
With the victory, Gbadamosi emerged as the first Nigeria to win an African boxing title.
The 2018 Youth Olympic Silver medalist dominated the fight despite Mastara trying to nullify all the attacking threats of the Nigerian.
Gbadamosi proved her superiority in the 5th round as she knocked out Matasara to the surprise of the crowd.
