Nojim Maiyegun Nigeria’s first Olympic medallist has died, Sports247 reports.
According to multiple sources, Maiyegun, aged 85 died this Monday of natural causes in Vienna, Austria where he has been living for years.
The report of his death was confirmed by his confidant Rudolfine Soultan.
“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,” Soultan wrote via his Facebook.
Many other sources also confirmed his death which included some Nigerians living in Austria.
He was the country’s sole medal winner at the Tokyo 1964 Summer Olympics games, the first time Nigeria will be winning an Olympic medal since it began participating at the games.
The boxer won the bronze medal in the light middleweight category of the boxing event at the Tokyo 1964 Olympics to become the first Nigeria to finish on the podium, and broke Nigeria’s jinx 12 years of Medal-less streak at the games.
He then won the Commonwealth bronze medal in the same category in Kingston Jamaica at the 1966 Commonwealth games.
Nojim Maiyegun left Nigeria in 1971 to begin a professional boxing career, where he fought 16 times and won 12, with 10 of the victories coming via a knockout.
He later became visually impaired and appeared in “Nigeria’s Who Wants To Become a Millionaire” TV show where a sum of money was won for him on the show in 2012.
He was recognised in 2019 after he was given the Karis Award in Nigeria , a special recognition award given to Nigerians who have distinguished themselves in their chosen field.
Nojim Mayegun’s feat paved the way for Nigeria ‘s athletes to aspire for medals at the Olympics as the country has been able to amass a total of 28 medals, ( 3 Gold · 11 Silver · 14 Bronze) at the summer Olympics , 60 years after his Tokyo’s feat as he left behind an indelible legacy in Nigeria participation in International Sports competition.
