Nojeem Maiyegun, Nigeria’s first Olympic medalist, dies at 83
The Nigeria’s first-ever Olympic medalist, Nojeem Maiyegun, has been reported dead on Monday who at the age of 83, while his passing away came at a time when Nigerian are still pained from medal-less performance of the country contingents at the just concluded Paris Olympic Games.
Penpushing reports that, Maiyegun’s Austrian partner, Rudolfine Soultan (Funmilayo) made the death known through a heartfelt Facebook post, adding that he passed away few days to 17 years of their togetherness
“My Jimylein (Jimmy) is dead. I can’t say more about this right now because it’s just horrible. By the day after tomorrow, we would have been together for 17 years’, the Austrian partner wrote in the facebook post.
Penpushing further reports that the deceased was born on 17 February 1941 in the Bamgbose area of Lagos Island, Lagos State and started boxing at 16, while records have it that his interest in boxing was sparked by an encounter with a bully at a public tap in Bamgbose.
The Olympic medalist trained at Bonny Ade Boxing Gym for six months before seeking revenge against his tormentor, while his first international fight was against Ghana’s Joe Blackey in Accra in 1960, which he won.
Penpushing also reports that Maiyegun became Nigeria’s first-ever Olympic medalist after winning bronze in the men’s light middleweight (71kg) category at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan and equally won a bronze medal at the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica, among several other laurels he won while representing Nigeria.
The deceased popularly called “Omo Oloja” by boxing buffs, moved to Austria after turning pro, but his dream of winning a world title was cut short by blindness, while he had a short professional career between 1971 and 1973 with only 16 bouts, winning 12, including ten knockouts and four defeats.
Penpushing reports that that despite his short professional career, the late boxer legacy as a pioneering Nigerian athlete endures, while tributes have been pouring in for the Nigerian sporting legend from across the globe since the news filtered in.
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