Oyo State jumper, Difference Japo, has won the National Sports Festival’s men’s pole vault title for the fourth consecutive time, after finishing ahead of other jumpers at the MKO Abiola Sports Complex in Abeokuta on Wednesday, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Being the last event on the penultimate day of the 2024 National Sports Festival, Japo and the four other contenders thrilled fans inside the arena for over two hours and the Delta-born athlete won with a mark of 3.85m.
Plateau State’s Sunday Jackden was second with a mark of 3.70m while Rivers State’s Emeka Jeffrey finished third with a mark of 3.50m.
For the winner, Japo, the winning mark was below his personal best of over 4m which he set at the 2018 edition in Abuja, and he had three other unsuccessful attempts to go over the 4m mark after clinching the gold medal.
“I’m happy to have won another National Sports Festival title,” Japo said.
“I’ve gone over 4m in 2018 but since then I haven’t been able to, so I want to keep trying to get better.”
Japo also called for more government funding for the event.
“I want the government to support me and other athletes with equipment so we can keep training.
“Like me, I need a 5m pole. The current one I have is almost gone and can’t take me beyond the current winning height.”
The women’s pole vault event was held on Tuesday with Bayelsa’a Hope Aruya extending her dominance.
Aruya retained her crown at the 22nd National Sports Festival with a mark of 2.95m to win gold at the MKO Abiola Sports Complex, finishing ahead of Chioma Okafor of Delta, who won silver with a mark of 2.75m.
The women’s champion had also lamented the lack of competition in the women’s event.
“We are very few in pole vault, you people should encourage your friends in other fields to come and join us as well,” Aruya said to one of the jumpers before speaking with our correspondent.
“This is not my first time winning the festival. I just want to make a better jump each time, but I couldn’t do that today because of the stress I had gone through in the triple jump.”
