Nigeria at the 2003 All-Africa Games

Nigeria competed in the 2003 All-Africa Games held at the National Stadium in the city of Abuja. It was the eighth time that the country had taken part in the games and expectations were high for the competitors as they were playing on home soil. 2003 was the second time that Nigeria hosted the games, as the 1973 All-Africa Games had been held in Lagos thirty years before. The country did extremely well and achieved a commanding first place in the medal table. The team left with a total of 240 medals, of which 85 were gold medals and 90 silver, a tally that remained unmatched until 2019.

Nigeria at the 2003 All-Africa Games
IOC code	NGR
NOC	Nigerian Olympic Committee
in Abuja 5 October 2003 (2003-10-05) – 17 October 2003 (2003-10-17)
Competitors	303 (164 men and 139 women)
Medals Ranked 1st	Gold 85 Silver 90 Bronze 65 Total 240
All-Africa Games appearances (overview)
1965 1973 1978 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Youth appearances
2010 2014

Competitors

Nigeria fielded a team of 303 athletes at the games, far more than any other nation. Of these, 164 were men and 139 women.[1] Amongst the games records that were broken were a time of 9.95 for Deji Aliu in the 100 metres and a put of 18.12 metres (19.82 yards) by Vivian Chukwuemeka. Mary Onyali-Omagbemi, whose medal tally before the games included gold at the 1994 Commonwealth Games and multiple honours at previous Africa Games, added to her total in the 100 and 200 metres, as well as participating in the 4×100 m relay team that broke the game record with a time of 43.04.[2] Within the team games, there were also individual achievements. Godwin Unegbe achieved the highest number of points in the basketball tournament.[3] In baseball, Jimmy Kolawale led the field in runs and was named best hitter of the games.[4] In chess, Odion Aikhoje and Bunmi Olape both performed well, achieving medals at the second and third boards respectively.[5]

Medal summary

Nigeria won 240 medals in total, substantially more than in previous years and more than the total in the previous two competitions combined. This was the highest number of medals won in the competition until 2019, when the record was beaten by Egypt.[6]

Medal table

Sport	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Athletics	13	14	6	33
Badminton	3	4	3	10
Baseball	0	1	0	1
Basketball	1	0	1	2
Boxing	4	3	0	1
Chess	0	0	1	1
Cycling	1	0	0	1
Field hockey	0	1	0	1
Football	1	1	0	2
Gymnastics	0	0	0	0
Handball	0	0	1	1
Judo	0	0	4	4
Karate	0	2	2	4
Softball	0	1	0	1
Squash	0	0	0	0
Swimming	0	1	1	2
Table tennis	6	4	4	14
Taekwondo	0	2	3	5
Volleyball	0	0	1	1
Weightlifting	7	9	3	19
Wrestling	9	2	3	14
Total	85	90	65	240

List of Medalists

Gold Medal

Medal	Name	Sport	Event	Date	Ref
Gold	Deji Aliu	Athletics	Men's 100m		[7]
Gold	Mary Onyali-Omagbemi	Athletics	Women's 100m		[7]
Gold	Uchenna Emedolu	Athletics	Men's 200m		[8]
Gold	Mary Onyali-Omagbemi	Athletics	Women's 200m		[7]
Gold	Grace Ebor	Athletics	Women's 800m		[7]
Gold	Angela Atede	Athletics	Women's 100m hurdles		[7]
Gold	Osita Okeagu	Athletics	Men's 400m hurdles		[7]
Gold	Omolade Akinremi	Athletics	Women's 400m hurdles		[7]
Gold	Nkeka Ukuh	Athletics	Women's high jump		[7]
Gold	Esther Aghatise	Athletics	Women's long jump		[7]
Gold	Vivian Chukwuemeka	Athletics	Women's shot put		[7]
Gold	Chinedu Odozor Emem Edem Endurance Ojokolo Mary Onyali-Omagbemi	Athletics	Women's 4 × 100 metres relay		[7]
Gold	Bisi Afolabi Doris Jacob Glory Nwosu Rosemary Onochie	Athletics	Women's 4 × 400 metres relay		[7]
Gold	Ocholi Edicha	Badminton	Men’s singles		[9]
Gold	Grace Daniel	Badminton	Women’s singles		[10]
Gold	Ibrahim Adamu Orobosa Okuonghae	Badminton	Men’s doubles		[9]
Gold	Aisha Mohammed Alaba Rafiu Bola Solaja Ezinne James Funmilayo Ojelabi Juliana Negedu Mactabene Amachree Mary Chinweokwu Mfon Udoka Nguveren Ivorhe Patricia Chukwuma Shola Ogunade	Basketball	Women’s basketball		[11]
Gold	Ahmed Sadiq	Boxing	60 kg		[12]
Gold	Davidson Emenogu	Boxing	64 kg		[12]
Gold	Emmanuel Izonritei	Boxing	91 kg		[12]
Gold	Gbenga Oloukun	Boxing	+91 kg		[12]
Gold	Ego Uzoho	Cycling	Women’s time trial		[13]
Gold	Nigeria women's national football team	Football	Women’s		[14]
Gold	Tajudeen Agunbiade	Table tennis	Men's open standing		[15]
Gold	Chinedu Njoku	Table tennis	Men's open sitting		[15]
Gold	Maimuna Habib	Table tennis	Women's open standing		[15]
Gold	Funke Oshonaike Monday Merotohun	Table tennis	Mixed doubles		[15]
Gold	Bode Abiodun Kazeem Nosiru Monday Merotohun Moses Toriola Peter Akinlabi	Table tennis	Men’s team		[15]
Gold	Bosede Kaffo Cecilia Ottu Edem Offiong Funke Oshonaike	Table tennis	Women’s team		[15]
Gold	Patience Lawal	Weightlifting	Women’s 53 kg		[16]
Gold	Gbenga Oluponna	Weightlifting	Men’s 56 kg		[16]
Gold	Akwa Etineabasi	Weightlifting	Men’s 62 kg		[16]
Gold	Ruel Ishaku	Weightlifting	Men’s Powerlifting 48 kg		[16]
Gold	Sadiq Animashaw	Weightlifting	Men’s Powerlifting 56 kg		[16]
Gold	Lucy Ejike	Weightlifting	Women’s Powerlifting 56 kg		[16]
Gold	Solomon Amarakuo	Weightlifting	Men’s Powerlifting 100 kg		[16]
Gold	Isaac Jacob	Wrestling	Men’s 55 kg		[17]
Gold	Happiness Burutu	Wrestling	Women’s 63 kg		[18]

Silver Medal

Medal	Name	Sport	Event	Date	Ref

Bronze Medal

Medal	Name	Sport	Event	Date	Ref

See also

• Amos Adamu

References

1. "Number of Entries by Country". 8allafricagames.org. 2003. Archived from the original on 25 October 2003. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
2. "Two more Games records in Abuja – African Games – Day THREE". World Athletics. 14 October 2003. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
3. "Basketball - Top 10 Players". 8allafricagames.org. 2003. Archived from the original on 26 October 2003. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
4. "Jimmy Kolawale". Baseball Reference. 17 September 2018. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
5. "8th All-Africa Games (chess - men): Abuja 2003". OlimpBase. 2018. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
6. "Egypt Breaks the Record at 2019 African Games by Winning 273 Medals". Egyptian Streets. 1 September 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
7. Krastev, Todor (23 February 2011). "Athletics All Africa Games Abuja (NGR) 2003". Todor66. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
8. "Uchenna Emedolu". Making of Champions. 2017. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
9. "Les Jeux Africains - "All Africa Games"". Africa-badminton.com. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
10. "Medallists Badminton". 8allafricagames.org. 2003. Archived from the original on 19 April 2004. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
11. Krastev, Todor (14 November 2008). "Women Basketball Africa Games 2003 Abuja (NGR) - 05-10.10". Todor66. Archived from the original on 8 January 2009. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
12. "8.All-Africa Games - Abuja, Nigeria - October 4-13 2003". Amateur Boxing Results. 2003. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
13. "Medallists Cycling Road". 8allafricagames.org. 2003. Archived from the original on 22 October 2003. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
14. "All Africa Games - Women's Football Tables". BBC. 2003. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
15. "Medallists Table Tennis". 8allafricagames.org. 2003. Archived from the original on 22 October 2003. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
16. "Medallists Weightlifting". 8allafricagames.org. 2003. Archived from the original on 13 April 2004. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
17. "Jacobs wins Abuja 2003 gold, still expects Olympic decoration". 8allafricagames. 8 October 2003. Archived from the original on 20 June 2004. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
18. Ekeng, Asuquo (14 October 2003). "Nigeria: Burutu Happy Over Wrestling Success". All Africa. Retrieved 13 January 2020.