Patience Okon-George, Yinka Ajayi, Glory Onome Nathaniel and Emerald Egwim battled hard to earn a place in the final of the 4x400m women final event billed for yesterday at 8.55pm.
The team ran a personal best of 3.31.97seconds to take their place amongst the finalists. Nigerian athletics enthusiasts could only pray that there was a turn of events that would have favoured the women in Nigeria’s search for a face-saving medal. In the semi-final heats on Saturday, USA, Jamaica and Britain clearly established themselves as top favourites for the medals at stake. Okon-George and Ajayi must have to come up with a performance below 51 seconds to guarantee a spot on the podium. The Nigerian women 4x100m failed to appear for their race yesterday, it was another area that could have fetched Nigeria a medal. But apparently there weren’t enough sprinters to form a team. It is only Jenifer Madu and Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteg-uonor that are in London.
Last  Friday night Okagbare-Ighoteg-uonor who reached the women long jump final, failed to measure up in the highly competitive event, placing seventh.
The long jump was the only other event apart from the women 4x400m a Nigerian athlete reached the final. “What did you expect after the chaotic situation at the Athletics Federation of Nigeria? We weren’t prepared for the championships, but I expect the new AFN board to start looking ahead. “We need to give them a chance and if they fail to perform, then we can push them out,” said former Nigerian sprinter, Endurance Ojokolo.