MARIA-PATIENCE AKPAN WINS GOLD IN COMMONWEALTH YOUTH GAMES IN SOUTH AFRICA
Sports Recorder edition, March 22, 2023. By MFON PATRICK
Few months after she was discovered during an Inter-House sports competition, para-athlete Maria-Patience Akpan has announced herself to the world with a brilliant performance at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Cape Town.
Maria-Patience ran a time of 16:74 seconds to win Gold Medal in what is her first international event in South Africa.
The Akwa Ibom State athlete, a student of Community Secondary Commercial School, Ibiaku Itam, passed her classification test last weekend and competed as a T36 athlete.
She beat off challenges from two South Africans, Imani Pethu who ran 17:36 seconds and Visser Sanette who ran 18:90 seconds to win gold medal in the 100m CP event in an impressive time of 16:74 seconds.
With her achievement, Maria-Patience has qualified for the Commonwealth Youth Games scheduled to take place in Trinidad and Tobago in August this year.
The athlete who was accompanied by her coach Elizabeth Akpan are expected back in Nigeria later this week.
