Nigeria will compete in three out of five relay events at next month’s Olympic Track and Field tournament in Paris France.
The West Africans’ medal winning potential now lies in the mixed 4x400m, women’s 4x100m, and men’s 4x400m.
Team Nigeria missed out on qualifying for the women’s 4X400m event despite blazing to the GOLD medal in the African Athletics Championships in Cameroon yesterday.
The quartet of Ella Onojuvwevwo, Patience Okon, Esther Elo Joseph, and Omolara Ogunmakinju clocked a time of 3:27.31 to reclaim their championship title, lost to South Africa two years ago in Mauritius.
Despite their outright victory against fierce rivals Botswana and Zambia, the Nigerian team won’t be participating in Paris as they needed to run faster than Cuba’s 3:26.08.
The Cubans currently occupying the last qualifying spot on the world list in 16th place.
Tag: African Athletics Championship
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Team Nigeria began its quest to win a record 9th African Seniors Athletics Championships title on a sound footing in Douala, the economic capital of Cameroon on Friday 21 June 2024.
With two gold medals from men’s Shot Put and women’s Discus, the Nigerian contingent stormed to the medals’ table after Day 1 action.
It was a clean sweep for Nigeria in the women’s Discus event with Ashley Anumba taking gold ahead of Obiageri Amaechi and Chioma Onyekwere settling for bronze medal.
Anumba recorded a throw of 59.30m in her final attempt, improving on 59.01m that kept her in the lead throughout the competition.
African Games Champion, Obiageri Amaechi claimed Silver with a distance of 58.80m while defending champion, Chioma Onyekwere settled for third place with a throw of 57.96m.
African Indoor Record holder and five times Nigeria champion in the men’s Shot Put, Chukwuebuka Enekwechi made it a hat trick of crowns in Cameroon after extending his dominance on the continent to six years, taking the first GOLD medal of the Championships.
Enekwechi who had won the last two editions of the competitions, Asaba 2018 and Mauritius 2022, improved by 2cm his Championships Record of 21.20m set two years ago in Saint Pierre, minning gold with a record of 21.22m.
Eight finals will be decided on Day 2 of the competition which include, men and women 100m, 4×400m mix relay, men’s 10,000m and women’s 100m hurdles.
The Senior Athletics Championships end on 26 of this month. -
The Honourable Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh, has urged Nigerian athletes to treat the upcoming African Championship in Cameroon as a perfect rehearsal for the Olympic Games in Paris.
Senator Enoh made the statement following the Athletics Federation of Nigeria’s (AFN) announcement of a formidable list of 40 athletes that will represent the country at the African Championships in Douala.
“The African Athletics Championship should serve as a dress rehearsal for the Olympics,” Senator Enoh stated.
“I charge all our flag bearers to represent the green and white flag with pride and aim to bring back the first position trophy at the end of the tournament.”
Among the standout names listed by the AFN for the African competition are Tobi Amusan, Favour Ofili, Chukwuebuka Enekwechi, and Chidi Okezie, some of Nigeria’s biggest stars heading to the competition.
All the athletes secured qualification for the competition at the Nigerian Athletics trials held in Benin City, Edo State this week
Nigeria’s sports men and women will take part in 20 events at the Cameroonian event.
The 2024 African Senior Athletics Championship will run from Friday, June 21 to Wednesday, June 26.