Team Nigeria were dealt another medal blow after Chukwuebuka Enekwechi fell short of the top three in the men’s shot put final at the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Olympics on Thursday.
Nigeria who ranked 68th on the medal’s table with a silver and bronze were hoping to shrug off the disappointment of crashing out in two wrestling and one canoeing event on Wednesday as Enekwechi lined up for the final.
However, the Nigerian athlete fouled in his first attempt, threw a distance of 18.87m in his second before throwing 19.74m on his third attempt to finish 12th.
Enekwechi made history on Tuesday when he became the first Nigerian to qualify for the final of the shot put event.
World record-holder Ryan Crouser of the United States broke his own Olympic record to retain the men’s shot put title on Thursday.
The American managed a best of 23.30 metres on his sixth and final effort, a new Olympic record after his five previous attempts had also all gone beyond the 22.52m that saw him win gold at the 2016 Rio Games.
The 28-year-old Crouser led a repeat of the Rio podium, with teammate and world champion Joe Kovacs taking silver with 22.65m, and New Zealand’s Tomas Walsh claiming bronze (22.47).
