Nigeria’s Shot putter and 2018 Commonwealth Silver medal winner Chukwuebuka Enekwechi stunned the home crowd at the Estádio do Centro Nacional de Desenvolvimento do Atletismo, São Paulo, as he defeated home favorite and world number no. 3 Darlan Romani at the IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge.
Enekwechi, who is ranked World number 14th, produced a throw of 21.77m to clinch gold at the 35th Grande Prêmio Brasil Caixa de Atletismo on Sunday – the throw also saw him set a new national record.
The previous national record set by Stephen Mozia at the Grand Prixin in Czech Republic, stood at 21.76m.
On Sunday, all was going as expected for Romani he led with his 21.62m from round two, but Enekwechi responded in round three with 21.77m – a PB by 49 centimetres to take the definitive lead.
Romani improved to 21.69m on his final throw, but it wasn’t enough to deliver the victory. USA’s Curtis Jensen was third with 20.40m.
Enekwechi’s winning mark also moved him up to second place on the African all-time list, just 20 centimetres behind continental record-holder, South Africa’s Janus Robberts.
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