Nigeria’s first medalist at the Olympic games, Nojim Maiyegun, has been reported to have passed on at the age of 83.
The popular pugilist, who had a Lagos street named in his honour following his victory, died less than a month after the country celebrated the 60th anniversary of his achievement.
He died on Monday in Vienna, Austria where he had been living for years after leaving the country.
A source close to the family disclosed this to The Guild on Monday, a development that came barely 12 years after the Olympian lost his sight.
Due to the retired boxer’s health challenge, he was reportedly in and out of hospital in the past six months before his death.
It would be recalled that Maiyegun won the bronze medal 60years ago on 10 August 1964 at the Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
He shared the bronze medal with Józef Grzesiak of Poland in the Light middleweight category. At the Olympics, the two losers in the semifinals are traditionally awarded the bronze medal, as there is no third-place bout.
It was the first time since Helsinki 1952 when Nigeria started participating in the Games that he won a medal. And it ended Nigeria’s 12-year winless streak at the Olympics.
Maiyegun was born on 17 February 1941 in Lagos and achieved a historic feat for Nigeria by winning a bronze medal in the men’s Light Middleweight (71 kg) category at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
