Gift Bright and Rosemary Nwankwo won both sprint titles on the opening day of athletics, giving Nigeria its first men’s and women’s 100-meter double at the Youth Olympic Games

Nigeria swept the men’s and women’s 100-meter titles at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games on Nov. 8, as Gift Bright and Rosemary Nwankwo delivered two gold-medal performances.

Bright, 15, sets a Games record

Bright won the men’s final in a Games-record 10.28 seconds, improving on his semifinal time of 10.34.

China’s Hangyu Zhang took silver in 10.57, while Poland’s Szymon Dolega finished third in 10.61.

Nwankwo completes the double

Nwankwo completed the double in the women’s final, clocking 11.16 seconds to finish ahead of the United Arab Emirates’ Arwa Ali, who ran 11.41, and Qatar’s Dana Salem in 11.48.

Her winning time was wind-assisted, with a reading of 2.4 meters per second exceeding the permitted limit of 2.0 meters per second for a wind-legal performance. The result did not affect her gold medal.

A first for Nigeria at the Youth Olympics

The victories gave Nigeria its first champions in the men’s and women’s 100 meters at the same edition of the Youth Olympic Games. Bright became the country’s first male winner of the event.

Nwankwo followed in the footsteps of compatriots Josephine Omaka, who won in 2010, and Rosemary Chukwuma, the 2018 champion.

A golden opening day for African athletes

The sprint double added to Nigeria’s gold-medal haul on the opening day of athletics in Dakar, where Kenya also claimed two titles through Abigael Kosgei in the women’s 2,000-meter steeplechase and Enock Tuitoek in the men’s 3,000 meters.