The Nigerian quartet of Becky Ebiyadi, Jecinta Lawrence, Tejiri Praise Ugoh and Faith Ezechukwu booked their place in the women’s 4x400m final after clocking a season’s best of 3:35.28.

Nigeria finished third in the heat behind Italy and Great Britain, doing enough to advance to the final and remain firmly in contention for a medal.

In the women’s 4x100m, Ugoh joined Lucy Nwankwo, Chigozie Nwankwo and Oluebube Ezechukwu as Nigeria produced another season’s best, clocking 43.65 seconds to secure an automatic ticket to the women’s 4x100m final.

The qualification was sealed by a sensational anchor leg from Ezechukwu. Receiving the baton nearly 20 metres behind the United States, the Nigerian launched a determined charge down the home straight, rapidly closing the gap before edging the Americans at the line to claim the third automatic qualifying position.

Nigeria stopped the clock at 43.65 seconds, just 0.02 seconds ahead of the United States, who finished in 43.67 seconds.

The performances mean Nigeria will now contest both women’s relay finals, further strengthening the country’s medal prospects at the championships.

In Saturday’s evening phase of the event, Success Uyibo will compete in the 200m women’s final while the 4x100m compete in the women’s final.

World Record holder and Commonwealth Games champion, Goodness Nwachukwu, has revealed why she dumped Delta State for Enugu State.

The sudden departure of Nwachukwu, a multiple gold medallist, from Team Delta to the Coal City, Enugu , sparked controversy within the sports family, with officials of Delta State Sports Commission accusing the president of the Paralympic Committee of Nigeria, Sunday Odebode, of manipulating the system for the athlete to dump the state.

But Nwachukwu, who broke the World Record to win a gold medal for Team Nigeria in the Women’s Discus F42 event at the just-concluded Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, has cleared the air on the circumstances that led to her movement to Enugu State.

Speaking with The Tidesports source report, shortly after winning the gold medal, Nwachukwu said: “It is not true that anybody aided my movement from Delta State to Enugu. Rather, it was Delta State that forced me to leave because of poor remuneration.

 

Clubs’ managers, Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) officials and other stakeholders in the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) will gather in Ibadan for the league’s yearly general meeting (AGM), which has the draw for the 2026/27 NPFL season fixtures as part of the agenda.

The AGM is the business assembly of the NPFL at which the board and clubs’ leadership review the concluded season and ratify the policy direction for the incoming season.

For the past four seasons, NPFL Chairman Gbenga Elegbeleye has steadied the rudders of the big league, establishing a stable calendar that has seen the season kick off in August and conclude in May.

Reflecting on the performance, Elegbeleye said: “Our modest achievement includes putting the NPFL on a stable calendar since the 2023/24 season. It is a major shift from the era of never knowing when the season will be concluded.”

He also pointed to his promise at inception to ensure live broadcast coverage of the league, stating that “We have succeeded to a large extent in this direction but still have much more work to do”.

At the AGM, the Chief Operating Officer, Davidson Owumi, will present the technical and operations report, while GTI Assets Management will be presenting the financial report.

The fixtures draw for the 2026/27 season would be held following the earlier announcement of dates for kickoff.

The AGM will be held at the Professor Theophilus Ogunlesi Events Hall, opposite the University College Hospital, Ibadan.