Nigeria’s Jessica Oji has become the first Nigerian to win a world title in a field event at any level after claiming gold in the women’s shot put at the 2026 World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Oregon.
The teenager produced a championship-winning throw of 18.08 metres to seal the historic triumph, capping a remarkable run of form that has established her as one of the world’s most promising young athletes. Oji announced her intentions from the opening round with a throw of 18.05m to take an early lead, before improving to 18.08m on her second attempt, a mark that proved unbeatable for the remainder of the competition.
With gold already secured heading into her final attempt, she underlined her dominance with another effort of 18.07m, just one centimetre shy of her winning distance.
Ecuador’s Belsy Jennifer Quinonez claimed silver with a best throw of 17.90m, while Germany’s Emily Scherf settled for bronze. Related News D’Tigress suffer narrow defeat to China in exhibition opener British envoy hails Nigeria’s 24-medal haul at Commonwealth Games Barcelona cancel Morocco friendly over border crisis
Oji had signalled her title ambitions during qualification, where she threw 17.56m to finish first overall and advance comfortably to the final. Her gold in
