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| Gift Bright crosses the finish line in the men’s 100m final at the Dakar Youth Olympic Games on 8 November 2026. OIS/IOC, via Made in Africa Sport. |
Gift Bright and Rosemary Nwankwo won the men’s and women’s 100-metre finals at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games on Sunday, 8 November, securing Nigeria’s first two gold medals of the competition.
The results made Nigeria the first country to win both 100m titles at the same edition of the Youth Olympics. Bright also became the country’s first champion in the men’s event, while Nwankwo secured its third women’s title.
Both athletes entered their finals after recording the quickest times across their respective semi-finals on the opening day of athletics at the Complexe Iba Mar Diop in Senegal.
Bright, 15, improved from 10.34 seconds in the semi-finals to a personal best of 10.28 seconds in the final. China’s Zhang Hangyu finished second in 10.57 seconds, ahead of Poland’s Szymon Dolega, who earned bronze in 10.61 seconds.
The World Athletics results recorded a tailwind of +1.7 metres per second for the men’s final. Bright had qualified from a semi-final run into a headwind of 0.5 metres per second.
After winning, the Nigerian spoke about an injury that had left him anxious about competing. He said pain had affected his preparations, but he felt no discomfort during the final.
“The toughest thing here has been my injury. I’m scared when I run. I was having pain; I was praying every day to God to give me healing.
“Today I have no pain. I was not nervous or scared, because before my heats, I told myself no pressure. Just let it go in the final; do what I have to do.”
In the women’s competition, Nwankwo won her semi-final in 11.53 seconds, the fastest qualifying time, before finishing the final in 11.16 seconds.
The 17-year-old finished ahead of Arwa Ali of the United Arab Emirates, who took silver in 11.41 seconds. Qatar’s Dana Salem placed third in 11.48 seconds.
Nwankwo’s final carried a tailwind of +2.4 metres per second, making her winning time wind-assisted. Her semi-final, by comparison, had a headwind of 1.0 metre per second.
Her gold added to Nigeria’s previous successes in the event. Josephine Omaka won the women’s 100m at the inaugural Youth Olympics in Singapore in 2010, and Rosemary Chukwuma took the title at Buenos Aires 2018.
Speaking after the race, Nwankwo said she had concentrated on her own performance rather than the pressure of the occasion.
“There was no pressure on me. I ran my race. I focused on me, and I did it. I’ve prayed for this moment, and I did it.
“I want to tell you guys that at the next (Youth) Olympics, expect Nigeria to win it again. We are good sprinters. We know how to condition ourselves to stay where we are. It’s a very big thing for us.”