Namibia’s Mboma breaks Ogunkoya’s 25-year African 400m record

Christene Mboma has broken Falilat Ogunkoya’s African 400m record after running 48.54 seconds at an athletics meeting at the Zdzislaw Krzyszkowiak Stadium in Bydgoszcz in Poland on Wednesday.

Her race time is the first sub 49 seconds returned by an African woman dorning the colours of an African nation and seventh fastest of all time.

Mboma’s time seems to have been confirmed by World Athletics after it was listed as the fastest time in the world so far this year.

The feat by the 18-year-old Namibian makes her the huge favourite for the 400m gold at the delayed 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan later this month.

Read Also: Brume broke my record at the right time —Ajunwa

Mboma’s incredible performance in Poland is reminiscent of what former Nigeria junior international, Ebelechukwu Agbapuonwu did in the colours of her adopted country, Bahrain, two years ago in Doha, Qatar at the World Athletics Championship.

Running under her equally adopted name, Salwa Eid Naser, the 23-year-old scorched to an incredible 48.14 seconds, the third fastest time of all time, to win the gold.

Ogunkoya has now become the second Nigerian to lose an African record (49.10) set at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.

Chioma Ajunwa’s 7.12m African long jump record which fetched her the historic Olympic gold was broken by her compatriot, Ese Brume (7.17m) at the end of May in California, USA.

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