Events that shaped Nigeria sports in 2022

Amusan (left) and Brume will lead Nigeria’s quest for medals at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, which begins…today

No doubt, the year 2022 will remain unforgettable for many sports-loving Nigerians for different reasons. In this report, GOWON AKPODONOR looks at how the country fared in some of its sporting engagement.

Athletics Athletics in Nigeria recorded its best moment in 2022. From the country’s participation at the World Championship in Oregon, USA, to the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, it was an unforgettable year for the country.

Top on the list of athletes who made Nigeria the talking point were Tobiloba Amusan and Ese Brume. Amusan, who was named Africa’s Best Female Athlete of the Year 2022 by the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA), last week, towered above her contemporaries this year.

Just when Nigeria’s hope for a medal was fading at the World Championships in Oregon, Amusan produced one of the biggest surprises of the championship, by speeding to a world record 12.12 seconds in the semifinals of the 100m hurdles, following it with a wind-assisted 12.06 seconds in the final to win gold.

A few weeks later, Amusan won gold for Team Nigeria at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, where she also set a record. She took a step further by winning the Diamond League trophy for the second successive season, which made her one of the best in the world and Africa’s undisputed number one in track and field in 2022.

Amusan, a former footballer from Ogun State, will be proud of her unprecedented feat in 2022 despite failing to claim the global accolade of World Female Athlete of the Year, which was won by America’s Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.

Amusan started 2022 with a successful defence of