Nojim Maiyegun, Nigeria’s first-ever Olympic medalist, has passed away at the age of 83.
The news was confirmed by Rudolfine F. Soultan, a close confidant, in a Facebook post late on Monday.
“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.”
Maiyegun passed away on Monday morning in Vienna, Austria, where he had been residing.
He had reportedly been struggling with an undisclosed illness for several months.
At the age of 23, Maiyegun secured Nigeria’s first Olympic boxing medal—a bronze in the light-heavyweight category at the Tokyo 1964 Games.
During the tournament, he defeated Great Britain’s William Robinson in just one minute and 59 seconds during the second round.
He also won against Denmark’s Tom Bogs in the quarter-finals but was defeated by France’s Joseph Gonzalez in the semi-finals.
Maiyegun and Poland’s Józef Grzesiak were awarded bronze medals.
In 1966, he earned another bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica.
Maiyegun moved from Nigeria in 1971 to pursue a professional boxing career.
