Athletics
CHRISTIAN TAYLOR CLAIMS HISTORIC 100TH GOLD FOR US MEN
When Christian Taylor cut the sand 17.86 metres from where he had taken off on his fourth attempt in the triple jump final, he did more than deprive his teammate and career-long rival Will Claye of another – yet another, Claye might add – major gold medal.
Taylor would increase his best to 17.92m in the next round, but in taking a lead he would never relinquish he also took the honour of winning the 100th gold medal for USA men since the inaugural IAAF World Championships in Helsinki in 1983 (where, ironically, another great US triple jumper, Willie Banks, was upstaged by Zdzislaw Hoffman of Poland in the triple jump).
“USA track and field has a strong history in the sport and strong presence,” said Taylor. “Wearing the uniform, there’s a level of respect that we get from our competitors but also a lot of pride that we take when wearing it.
“To win the 100th gold medal by a US man, how can I not be proud? It’s really the icing on the cake and adds to the phenomenal competition that I got to be a part of. To have that as part of my story, really I’m proud of it.”
Statistics from Mark Butler, editor of the official statistics handbook for the championships, tell us the USA men’s tally stood at 98 at the start of this World Championships. Christian Coleman made it 99 with his win the 100m on day two and then Taylor brought it up to 100 the following day.
In the same time, and with fewer competitive opportunities, US women have won 58 gold medals, 57 plus DeAnna Price in the hammer, and the USA has now won the first gold medal in mixed competition in the mixed 4x400m.
Taylor has made a solid contribution to that tally, of course. His win here took his personal gold medal tally to four, so he has contributed his fair share.
“Looking back, Angelo Taylor (three World Championships gold medals in the 4x400m) and Dwight Phillips (four world long jump titles) inspired me,” said Taylor.
“They were
both from Atlanta, like me. Dwight is a jumper, while Angelo has the Taylor
surname. What they did on the grand stage was phenomenal and really
inspirational.”
Carl Lewis, the man who started the US gold rush with his win in the 100m in Helsinki is the major single contributor with eight gold medals, five individual and three relay: the 100m, long jump and 4x100m in Helsinki, the same treble in Rome four years later, and the 100m and the relay in Tokyo in 1991.
LaShawn Merritt and Michael Johnson have also contributed eight apiece. Merritt’s record is 4x400m in 2005, 2007, 400m and 4x400m in 2009, 4x400m in 2011, 400m and 4x400m in 2013 and 4x400m again in 2015.
Johnson, who has
the most individual medals with six, won the 200m in Tokyo in 1991, the 400m
and 4x400m in 1993, the 200m, 400m and 4x400m in 1995, and the 400m in 1997 and
1999.
One of the most memorable gold medal competitions involved Carl Lewis, but was one he did not win.
In the long jump in Tokyo in 1991 Lewis was upstaged by Mike Powell, who not only pinched the gold medal from under King Carl’s nose, but also beat him to breaking Bob Beamon’s legendary world record.
Lewis got within centimetres of Beamon’s 8.90m with one of his early attempts. He pulled his track suit back on and sat down on the infield beyond the end of the pit, focused solely on the world record.
If that’s the case, Lewis forgot about the competition – perhaps an understandable mistake for a man who rarely been beaten and given the fact no man had ever jumped beyond 8.80m and lost.
Powell until then was such a mercurial competitor, too. Like Beamon, his approach to the event was simple: run down fast, jump as far as you can.
This night it
served him well, he exploded out to 8.95m. The record and the gold medal was
his.
There are many other memorable moments, too, some for an individual moment of brilliance, others for a sustained career of performance at the highest level, still others for the sheer unexpectedness of it.
Among the latter would definitely be the win by Mark Plaatjes in the marathon in Stuttgart in 1993. South African-born, Plaatjes had become a US citizen only the previous year. He came past long-time leader Lucketz Swartbooi of Namibia in the final kilometre to take the gold.
“I felt terrible passing Lucketz,” he said. “He did so much work and was brave to take the race out and destroy the field.”
Two of the greatest hurdlers ever – Greg Foster and Allen Johnson – are prime examples of sustained brilliance. Foster won the 110m hurdles at the first three championships, a reign of eight years; Johnson matched that longevity, winning in 1995, 1997, 1999 and 2003.
For sustained brilliance within a single event what about super decathletes Dan O’Brien and Ashton Eaton. O’Brien won three in the trot in 1991, 1993 and 1995; Ashton won two ‘only’ but who can forget his stunning 45.00 400m to close day one on his way to a world record victory in Beijing in 2015.
The rate of medal winning has slowed in recent times – 10 in Osaka in 2007, six in Berlin in 2009 and Daegu in 2011, four in 2013 and 2015, three in London in 2017 and two, so far, in Doha – in part due to many international rivals spending their formative senior years within the US collegiate system, in part due to the increasing globalisation of athletics.
It may take another 36 years for US men to win their next 100 gold medals, but following the first 100 has been quite a ride.
Len Johnson for the IAAF
BY DANLADI BAKO
Sports and indeed global athletics have been the cynosure of quite a huge community of track and field afficionados in the last nine days at the Tokyo World Athletics finals.
The global athletics fraternity congregates annually to celebrate new world beaters and champions.
Athletes spend a large amount of time, energy and resources to train, attracting the best coaches and utilizing some of the high impact facilities in developing qualifying times for their individual events.
So many nations facilitate the upscaling and upgrading of their athletes’ mentality, physique and performance standing through investments in the training and welfare of their high-profile athletes by providing grants, scholarships and appreciable reward systems.
These have been in short supply in Nigeria and indeed within the developing world where the priorities of most governments are education, health, poverty and so many other development challenges.
However, the benefits of investing in sports are unquantifiable especially on the world global diplomatic stage, unassailable visibility and an incredible reputation unachievable in so many other areas of human existence. In the eighties and 90s the Americans literally ruled the sprints with female 100 meters legend Florence Griffiths – Joyner and 400 meters world champion Michael Johnson.
Just like America used the movies to show Americans as the world best, sportsmen like basketball’s Michael Jordan and boxing’s Muhammad Ali put America on the pinnacle of human capacity for endurance, determination, strategic planning and near perfect execution.
America might have the size and population above 200 million so it’s success can be expected, however Jamaica an island of 150 miles by 50 miles has gone beyond exporting Reggae’s global icons like Bob Marley and Alton Ellis to producing 100 meters legends Usain Bolt, Sherry Ann Fraser-Price and Marlene Ottey thereby winning international recognition and inevitable public reckoning far beyond most African countries.
Now a land locked southern African sub-continent country Botswana with less than the population of Lagos State just on Sunday won the 4 x 400 men’s relay gold at the Tokyo 2025 games even after picking a few other medals through individual athletes Tebogo et al.
The Tokyo games have come and gone with Tobi Amusan putting Nigeria on the medals table with her 100 meters Silver medal. Ajayi’s efforts in the 100 meters men’s final was also commendable.
For me the highest point was the super- human diminutive Kenyan Faith Kipyegon in the 1500 metres clinching gold and 5000 metres silver.
Another great spectacle was the exploits of American idol Noah Lyle who anchored the last leg of the 4 x100 metres gold winning quartet.
Lyle won the 200 metres gold as well becoming one of the audaciuos and eye-catching supreme athletes of Tokyo 2025. Mention must be made of Sweden’s Armand Mondo who broke the pole vault world record thrice in two days.
So when and how would Nigeria get to these towering heights of conquering the world?
The fact is that we once had Olympic and World Athletics finalists like Innocent Egbunike (400m) , Chidi Imo (100 and 200m), Yusuf Alli (Long jump) and Falilat Ogunkoya (400m) although it was the American University collegiate structure that groomed them to become world beaters with little or no input from the home government.
Once in a long while a training grant of $50,000 gets handed to them in preparation for Olympic games to pay their coaches and for utilizing training facilities abroad. Even Ezekiel Nathaniel and Oyinkansola Ajayi are still beneficiaries of the American University collegiate structure.
The aforementioned names who also schooled and trained in the United States are still very much around especially Yusuf Alli, Falilat and Mary Onyali.
The authorities need to device the appropriate strategies to achieve podium standings in the nearest immediate future.
All the products of the National Youth Games and the School Sports Federation games should be drafted into a growth enhancement program, hire some of the best Athletics coaches from around the world and ensure the construction and maintenance of high-performance pitches and gymnasia.
The Sports Federations must be populated with patriotic and passionate sports men who are brimming with enthusiasm, desire and creativity.
President Tinubu did not only resuscitate the National Sports Commission, he gave an unprecedented 12 billion naira to the Sports Ministry for AFCON and other tournaments earlier this year so we have a listening President who can restore our lost glory in sports and athletics in particular. Nigeria must reclaim its podium standing capability as soon as possible.
Danladi Bako, OON was Senior Special Assistant to former Minister of Youth and Sports as well as one-time Chairman Sokoto State Football Association.
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By KUNLE SOLAJA.
Nigeria’s silver medal finish at the Tokyo 2025 World Athletics Championships once again highlighted the country’s roller-coaster fortunes on the global stage.
While the podium placement ensured Nigeria did not return empty-handed, the overall medal count has remained stagnant in recent years compared to other rising athletics nations.
At the Doha 2019 Championships, Team Nigeria endured a barren outing, failing to register a single medal. Three years later in Oregon 2022, Ese Brume broke the drought with a stunning gold in the women’s long jump — Nigeria’s first-ever world title in the event.
The momentum continued into Budapest 2023, where world record holder Tobi Amusan claimed silver in the women’s 100m hurdles, cementing Nigeria’s presence among the elite hurdlers. In Tokyo this year, the nation repeated the feat in the same event, albeit again settling for silver.
A comparative glance at the last four editions shows a troubling trend: Nigeria has not improved its medal tally, with just one medal each in 2022, 2023, and 2025.
This raises urgent questions about depth, consistency, and investment in talent development beyond the few star performers.
Comparative Medal Table (2019–2025)
- Doha 2019 – 0 medals (No standout performance)
- Oregon 2022 – 1 Gold (Ese Brume, Women’s Long Jump)
- Budapest 2023 – 1 Silver (Tobi Amusan, 100m Hurdles)
- Tokyo 2025 – 1 Silver (100m Hurdles)
The pattern underscores Nigeria’s reliance on individual brilliance rather than systemic excellence. Athletics analysts argue that unless the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) strengthens grassroots programs, invests in coaching and sports science, and improves athlete welfare, the country risks stagnating while competitors from Africa and beyond surge ahead.
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BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Nigeria wrapped up its campaign at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo with a single silver medal, finishing joint 25th on the overall medals table with eight others on the medals tables as the curtain was drawing on the championship.
The position may even deepen at the end of the day.
Star hurdler Tobi Amusan delivered the country’s only podium finish, placing second in the women’s 100m hurdles.
Despite the modest medal haul, several Nigerian athletes impressed with near-misses and record-breaking efforts.
Ezekiel Nathaniel narrowly missed out on a medal in the men’s 400m hurdles, finishing fourthin a national record time. Kanyinsola Ajayi also reached the men’s 100m final, settling for sixth, while shot put specialist Chukwuebuka Enekwechi placed fifthin his event.
Nigeria fielded 15 athletes – eight men and seven women – in Tokyo. While the performances reflected resilience, the lack of medals beyond Amusan’s silver highlighted gaps in preparation and depth.
Analysts point to the absence of Nigeria’s traditionally strong relay teams, logistical challenges, and inadequate athlete support as major setbacks.
Sports observers insist that the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) must chart a new path if the country is to climb the global athletics ladder.
Key recommendations include better logistics and athlete welfare, renewed focus on relay programmes, grassroots talent identification, and consistent funding.
Despite the below-par medal count, the performances in Tokyo suggest Nigeria still possesses world-class potential. With reforms and stronger administration, the AFN has an opportunity to turn near-misses into podium finishes at future championships.
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