Nigeria’s First Olympic Medallist, Maiyegun is Dead

Femi Solaja

Nigeria’s first medallist at the Olympic Games, Nojim Maiyegun, has died this Monday.

According to information gathered from multiple sources, Maiyegun, aged 85 died of natural causes in Vienna, Austria where he had been living for years.

Known to be virtually impaired for years, he was reportedly in and out of hospital in the past six months before his death which was also confirmed by another Nigerian, Stephen Ogboh who is an acquaintance of Pa Nojim in Austria.

Maiyegun’s death came just a few days after the 60th anniversary of his feet when he won a bronze medal in boxing on 10 August 1964 at the Olympics in Tokyo.

He shared the bronze medal with Józef Grzesiak of Poland in the Light middleweight category. At the Olympics, the two losers in the semifinals are traditionally awarded the bronze medal, as there is no third-place bout.

It was the first time since Helsinki 1952 when Nigeria started participating in the Games that he won a medal.

He thus ended Nigeria’s 12-year winless streak at the Olympics. 

Maiyegun was born on 17 February 1941 in Lagos and achieved a historic feat for Nigeria by winning a bronze medal in the men’s Light Middleweight (71 kg) category at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.

He was Nigeria’s first Olympic medallist not much was heard of him until 2012 when his loss of vision was made public that year.