Sixteen-year-old Nigerian athlete Praise Ugoh has made history after winning the women’s 400m gold medal at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Senegal.

Ugoh clinched the title on Monday after clocking a personal-best time of 52.76 seconds in the final, becoming the first Nigerian athlete to win the women’s 400m event at the Youth Olympic Games.

The Nigerian finished ahead of Venezuela’s Osmary Pacheco, who claimed silver in 52.85 seconds, while Aisha Muhammed of the United Arab Emirates took bronze after recording 53.06 seconds.

Ugoh’s victory marked another major achievement for Nigeria’s athletics contingent at the competition and increased the country’s gold medal tally to three.

She had secured her place in the final on Sunday after finishing second in her semi-final race with a time of 54.38 seconds, behind Pacheco, who clocked 53.01 seconds.

Her performance in the final saw her improve significantly on that time to secure the biggest victory of her young career.

The achievement came a day after Nigeria recorded a historic double in the men’s and women’s 100m events through Gift Bright and Rosemary Chigozie Nwankwo.

Nwankwo won the women’s 100m gold in 11.16 seconds, while Bright claimed the men’s title in 10.28 seconds, making Nigeria the first country to win both 100m gold medals at the same edition of the Youth Olympic Games.

Ugoh’s triumph has further strengthened Nigeria’s medal campaign in Dakar and added another milestone to the country’s record at the competition.

The Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, the first edition of the event to be hosted on African soil, began on October 31 and is scheduled to end on November 13.