Legendary Nigerian Olympian Nojim Maiyegun Dies At 83

Legendary Nigerian Olympian Nojim Maiyegun Dies At 83

Nojim Maiyegun, Nigeria’s first-ever Olympic medalist, has passed away at the age of 83. His death was confirmed by his close friend, Rudolfine F Soultan, through a Facebook post on Monday. Soultan’s post read, “My Jimmy died. I can’t say more about this right now because it’s just horrible. The day after tomorrow, we would have been together for 17 years………CONTINUE READING 

Maiyegun, who had been residing in Vienna, Austria, reportedly succumbed to an unnamed illness after several months of health issues. At just 23 years old, he secured Nigeria’s first Olympic medal, a bronze in light-heavyweight boxing, at the Tokyo 1964 Olympics. He achieved this by defeating Great Britain’s William Robinson in just under two minutes during the second round, and he also overcame Tom Bogs of Denmark in the quarter-finals. Maiyegun eventually lost to France’s Joseph Gonzalez in the semi-finals but earned the bronze medal alongside Poland’s Józef Grzesiak.

In addition to his Olympic success, Maiyegun won another bronze medal at the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica.