Youth Olympics: Bright’s record-breaking sprint gives Nigeria second gold

Gift Bright became the first Nigerian to win the boys’ 100m title at the Youth Olympic Games after setting a personal best of 10.28 seconds at Dakar 2026 on Sunday.
Bright produced a dominant performance in the final, finishing 0.29 seconds ahead of China’s Zhang Hangyu, who clocked 10.57 seconds. Szymon Dolega of Poland took bronze in 10.61 seconds.

His victory came hours after Rosemary Nwankwo won the girls’ 100m, giving Nigeria a historic double in the sprint events and ending the country’s wait for a medal at the Games.
Bright’s achievement marks a new chapter in Nigeria’s Youth Olympic history. While the country had previously produced a girls’ 100m champion, no Nigerian had won the boys’ title before Sunday.

The two victories also took Nigeria’s gold medal tally at the Games to two, matching the country’s previous best return at the Youth Olympics, recorded at Singapore 2010.
Nigeria had endured a difficult opening week in Dakar, with its swimmer missing out on a medal by two places and its table tennis representatives exiting after their group matches.

The sprint successes, however, lifted the country to joint 14th on the medal table, level with Ecuador, with both nations having two gold medals and no other medals at the time.
Bright’s winning time also carried a distinction from Nwankwo’s performance. While the latter’s 11.16 seconds in the girls’ final was wind-assisted, Bright’s 10.28 seconds was recorded with a legal wind reading of +1.7 metres per second, making it an official personal best.

The result is a significant milestone for Nigerian athletics, particularly as the country seeks to build a stronger pipeline of young sprinters for senior international competitions.
The Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, which began on 31 October, will run until 13 November. The event is the first Olympic sporting competition to be staged on African soil.