Zain Ali from Egypt don already dey front when e touch wall for halfway inside di men 100-metre butterfly final for Dakar. Di swimmers turn face di finish, but nobody fit catch am. On Sunday, 1 November, na im first touch di wall for 52.16 seconds to win Youth Olympic gold for Dakar Aquatics Centre for Senegal.
World Aquatics record 24.18 seconds for Ali when e turn. Dat number for di result na di time wey e take swim di first 50 metres. Di second 50 metres take am 27.98 seconds. E slow small compared with di first length, but e still remain for front reach di finish.
Aleksej Kalanj from Serbia finish for 54.03 seconds. So di gap between gold and silver na 1.87 seconds. Matiáš Krištof from Slovakia win bronze for 54.71 seconds. Di gap between di two men wey join Ali to collect medal small pass di gap between Ali and di swimmer wey near am pass.
After di race, Ali tell World Aquatics about di work wey e do to swim those two lengths. E say four years before, e feel say e still far from dis level. E remember as e dey wake by four for morning to train. E still talk say e surprise as e see how happy e feel when e don win.
African swimmers get another kind of success dat first day. For di women 400-metre freestyle, Leah Markgraaff from South Africa win silver for four minutes 26.13 seconds. Elvira Espinosa from Ecuador win dat race for four minutes 22.87 seconds. Na dat one be di first gold medal wey dem give for dis Games.
Wetin e mean for you: If you dey follow di results from Nigeria, di two African medals come from different races. Di distance wey Markgraaff swim na four times di one wey Ali swim, and dem use different style. To understand how far Ali take win, compare am with di other men for di butterfly final. Na di women freestyle times decide Markgraaff position.