Her victory comes amid a disappointing performance by Nigerian athletes, who have yet to win a medal with the Games set to conclude on Sunday.
The 28-year-old threw a season-best 75.48 meters to claim silver for her adopted country.
She finished second to Canada’s Camryn Rodgers, who won gold with a throw of 76.79 meters, while China’s Jie Zhao took bronze with a 74.27-meter throw.
Reacting to her victory, Echikunwoke told the Washington Post, “I’m happy it’s happening now. Everything happens for a reason, even if it’s bad or good or ugly. But this is beautiful.”
Echikunwoke’s success comes four years after she was disqualified from the Tokyo Olympics due to administrative errors by Nigerian officials, despite not testing positive for banned substances.
Born in the U.S. to Nigerian parents, she initially competed for Nigeria in the 2021 Olympics but switched allegiance to the United States following the Tokyo incident.
Her decision has since proven fruitful, establishing her as one of America’s top hammer throwers.
All eyes are now on Tobi Amusan, the Nigerian track and field athlete specialising in the 100 meters hurdles and sprinting.
Amusan, the current world record holder in the 100 meters hurdles with a time of 12.12 seconds set at the 2022 Eugene, Oregon semifinals, has advanced to the semifinals of the Women’s 100m Hurdles at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
On Wednesday morning, she won her heat with a time of 12.49 seconds, marking her third consecutive semifinal appearance at the Olympics.
On Tuesday, former Super Eagles coach Adegboye Onigbinde criticised Nigeria’s Olympic performance, attributing it to poor sports administration rather than technical issues.
He said, “The poor performance of Nigerian athletes at the Olympics and other international competitions is not due to technical shortcomings but administrative failures.
“Is it technical that an athlete who qualified properly for her event can be ridiculed by not being registered for participation? Such issues will persist if our administrators don’t separate politics from sports.”
Onigbinde emphasised that many administrators have lost sight of the core objectives of sports development programs that once brought the country success.