Usheoritse Itsekiri Targets Paris Olympics After Winning Silver For Nigeria In Ghana

Nigerian athlete, Usheoritse Itsekiri has stressed that his goal is to be at the 2024 Paris Olympics after winning Silver at the ongoing All-African Games in Ghana.

In the last edition of the All African Games in Rabat, Morocco in 2019, Usheoritse Itsekiri emerged as a bronze medalist despite being new in the tournament.

In the said edition of the games, Itsekiri ran his personal best of 10.02 seconds, a mark he has never been able to reach since then.

Following the 2019 African Games, he was selected to represent Nigeria at the 2020 Olympics in which he finished in the semi-final in 10.29 seconds which was not enough to earn him a spot in the final.

After winning Silver at the 2023 All African Games in Ghana, in 10.23 seconds, 9 seconds behind the gold medalist, Emmanuel Eseme of Cameroon (10.14s), the 26-year-old reigning Nigeria’s national champion said he intends to keep building on his progress in subsequent tournaments.

Usheoritse Itsekiri noted how okay he was that he was able to leave Ghana with a medal because the African Games was his first major competition this season.

“I came here hunting for a medal, this is a medal upgrade and I’m okay with it. To make it through the rounds in my first race of the season, I came here blank-headed hoping for any result but I’m happy to leave with a medal,” Itsekiri told Making of Champions.

“We have done this and there are also the world relays, after that, we pick the championships one at a time and the goal is to be in Paris. We go through with the plan as it goes. Just like the African Games, I was at the last Olympics and it will be my second appearance if I make the team, so I’m just going for the upgrade. Everything we do this season is to be better than the last time.”