Enoch Obaloluwa Adegoke (born 8 March 2000) is a Nigerian sprinter. He was the 2019 African U20 champion in the 100 metres. He is also an

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

and

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

finalist in the 100 metres. At the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

, he competed in both the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

and the 4x100 metres relay. In the 100 metres, Adegoke won both his heat and semi-final to progress to the final where he finished seventh in a time of 10.35s.

Career

2018 Commonwealth Games and African Championships

Early in 2018, Adegoke won the 100m at the Nigerian Commonwealth Games trials in a personal best time of 10.31s. The trials which were held in Abuja saw the seventeen-year-old Adegoke go into the final as the fifth fastest athlete behind favourites Seye Ogunlewe and Ogho-Oghene Egwero. Ogunlewe did not start in the final, and Adegoke took the opportunity to secure a spot on the Nigerian team to the games by winning the race while Egwero placed second. In his first race outside Nigeria, Adegoke set a personal best of 10.19s in the 100m heats at the Commonwealth Games. He backed up that performance when he returned to win his semi-final race ahead of

Henricho Bruintjies Henricho Bruintjies (born 16 July 1993) is a South African Sprint (running), sprinter. He broke the 10-second barrier with a run of 9.97 seconds in 2015. He has represented his country at the Summer Olympics, World Championships in Athletics, Wo ...

, who finished in second place. Though he finished in 7th place in the final, he had achieved some history by being the first home-based athlete in a Commonwealth, World or Olympic final in over a decade. In the 4x100 metres relay he was part of a Nigerian team that qualified for the final. The team, however, failed to finish and was eventually disqualified in the final. Adegoke was named as one of the athletes representing his country at the 2018 World U20 Athletics Championships. The Nigerian athletes, however, never left the country as their visas were not ready by the time the event started. He represented Nigeria at the 2018 African Championships in the

100m The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

and relay. Though he did not run in the final of the relay, he helped the team qualify for a place in the final. The Nigerian team went on to win a silver medal in the event.

2019 U20 Championships and Relays

Adegoke went into the 2019 African U20 Championships in

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, ...

as one of the favourites for the 100m title. He won his heat, semifinal races, and the title in a season's best time of 10.29s. In the 200m, he finished off the podium in fourth place. He later anchored the Nigerian team made up of Gershon Omubo, Shedrack Akpeki, Alaba Akintola and himself to a win in the 4x100 metres relay at the championships. He represented Nigeria in the relays at the 2019 World Relays and also at the Doha World Championships.

2020 Tokyo Olympics and National Titles

He qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, winning the 100m at the Nigerian Championships in 10.00s. The clock showed 9.97 as he crossed the finish line and he thought he had dipped under 10s for the first time but the official time was round up. Nonetheless, excited journalists quickly reported that he had dipped under 10s before the time was confirmed. This was the only time he had dipped beneath the 2020 Olympic standard after being close on previous attempts clocking 10.06s and a windy 10.05s. He is the current fastest man in Nigeria after beating the likes of

Usheoritse Itsekiri Usheoritse Ese Itsekiri (born 31 January 1998) is a Nigerian sprinter. He was the 2018 Nigerian National Sports Festival champion and the 2019 African Games bronze medallist in the 100 metres. He also won a silver medal in the relay at these ...

and Jerry Jakpa to claim the feat. He won the 100 meters final at the Nigeria National Sports Festival (EDO 2020) with a time of 10.28s ahead of teammate Alaba Akintola who placed second with 10.29s. At the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, Adegoke ran a personal best of 9.98 in his 100m event heat, becoming the eleventh Nigerian sprinter to break the

10-second barrier The 10-second barrier is the physical and psychological barrier of completing the 100 metres sprint in under ten seconds. The achievement is traditionally regarded as the hallmark of a world-class male sprinter. Its significance has become less i ...

. He then finished second in his semi-final heat with a time of 10.00s to advance to the final, but in the final Adegoke pulled up with an apparent hamstring injury and was unable to finish the race.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adegoke, Enoch Olaoluwa 2000 births Living people Nigerian male sprinters Commonwealth Games competitors for Nigeria Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Oyo State Olympic athletes for Nigeria 21st-century Nigerian people