Nigeria’s first Olympic medalist and former boxer, Nojim Maiyegun, has passed away at the age of 83.
The news of his death was confirmed by Rudolfine F Soultan, a close associate, who shared the heartbreaking news on Facebook on Monday.
In her post, Soultan expressed her grief, saying, “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.”
It was learnt that Maiyegun died on Monday morning at his residence in Vienna, Austria, after battling an undisclosed illness for several months.
At the age of 23, Maiyegun made history by securing Nigeria’s first Olympic medal, a bronze in the light-heavyweight boxing division, at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
He made an impressive showing in the second round, defeating Great Britain’s William Robinson in just under two minutes.
In the quarter-finals, he overcame Denmark’s Tom Bogs before being defeated by France’s Joseph Gonzalez in the semi-finals.
Maiyegun and Poland’s Józef Grzesiak were both awarded the bronze medal.
In 1966, two years after his Olympic triumph, Maiyegun added another bronze to his collection at the Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica.
He left Nigeria in 1971 to pursue a professional boxing career, during which he fought 16 times, winning 12 of his bouts, including 10 by knockout.
