Oyo-born Enoch Adegoke pulled out of the 100 metres men’s final event in Tokyo on Sunday due to a thigh related injury leaving Italy’s Lamont Marcell Jacobs to claim the coveted Olympic gold.
Adegoke stopped midway in the race with pain written over his face signalling a pull out from the finals.
Jacobs, 26, timed a European record of 9.80 seconds, with American Fred Kerley taking silver in 9.84sec in one of the most understated major 100m races in recent times.
Andre de Grasse of Canada, a bronze medalist at the 2016 Rio Olympics, duplicated the feat with a time of 9.89 seconds.
Adegoke, who smashed several Nigerian athletics records during the competition, became Nigeria’s first 100m Olympic finalist since 1996 on Sunday, clocking 10.00s in heat 2 of the men’s 100m semi-finals.
After winning his first-round heat in 9.98 seconds and securing a spot in the semi-finals of the 100m event in Tokyo, he joined the elite club of sub-10 second runners.
After Davidson Ezinwa and Olapade Adeniken, Adegoke became the third man in Nigerian history to reach the final of the 100m event at the Olympics.
