Sports
Nigeria secure World Relays tickets
Team Nigeria delivered a commanding performance at the Lefika International Relays in Gaborone, securing crucial victories in two of the four events contested and strengthening their push for qualification for the World Athletics Relays, Tidesports source reports.
The standout performance came in the mixed 4x100m relay, where Nigeria set a new African record of 41.44s to win the event.
The quartet of Chidera Ezeakor, Maria Omokwe, James Emmanuel and Jennifer Chukwuka produced a composed display to not only establish a national record but also set the first continental benchmark in the newly introduced discipline.
Their time propelled Nigeria from 22nd to 12th on the qualification ranking, placing them firmly within the top 24 required to secure a World Relays spot.
Kenya finished second in a national record time of 41.70s, as Nigeria moved ahead of Ecuador and Spain in the standings.
Nigeria also boosted their qualification hopes in the men’s 4x400m, where a season’s best of 3:02.98 secured a third-place finish behind Kenya and Zimbabwe.
The team of Samson Nathaniel, Emmanuel Ojeli, Victor Sampson and Sikiru Adeyemi delivered a strong race to climb into 22nd position on the global list, displacing Thailand, Switzerland and Zambia from qualification spots.
Zimbabwe, who finished ahead of Nigeria, moved into 21st place.
In the men’s 4x100m, Nigeria maintained their winning momentum despite not recording their fastest time, clocking a season’s best of 38.98s to grab victory.
The quartet of Enoch Adegoke, Chidera Ezeakor, Godwin Tejiri and Emmanuel James ensured maximum points with a disciplined baton exchange and strong finish.
However, the mixed 4x400m team fell short of another qualification mark after running 3:16.33, leaving their hopes in that event hanging in the balance ahead of the closing stages of the qualification window.
The performances in Botswana form part of Nigeria’s broader qualification campaign, with the World Relays requiring teams to rank among the top 24 globally in each event.
Qualification places are determined through a combination of host allocation, eight automatic spots from the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 2025 and 15 additional teams from the top lists within the qualification period running from January 1, 2025, to April 5, 2026.
Nigeria had already secured a place in the women’s 4x400m earlier in the campaign after posting 3:31.14 at the MTN Champs Athletics Classics on March 7, but that position remains under threat as they have slipped to 23rd, just one place above the cut-off.
With global competition intensifying and several nations improving their times, Nigeria will make a final push for qualification in the United States in the coming days before the deadline.
The Athletics Federation of Nigeria is aiming to secure representation across multiple relay events, with the recent results in Gaborone significantly boosting their chances.
A well-known football pundit in the State, Chief Christopher Okonkwo has lauded the efforts and vision of the Super Eagles Coach Eric Chelle for going from one venue of the Nigeria Domestic Nigeria Professional Football League match to the other in monitoring Nigerian players, with a view to invite some exceptional good one discovered into the main stream of the Super Eagles team.
Okonkwo, who made the commendation in an interview at the Port Harcourt Club recently, described the positive move by Coach Chelle as a good step in the right direction, noting that the practice was how its been done in the past among any contracted coach assigned to tinker the Super Eagles team.
“Truly, it has been an old tradition in the country seeing any newly engaged Coach to lead the National team, visiting some our Nigeria League venues during the league matches to spot light some good talents that could be used to beef up some grey areas in the department of Eagles team”
He, however, frowned at the current situation where our coaches had continously been over depending on the use of foreign based players during invitation of players to the National camp, thereby, relegating the domestic home based league players to the background as if they have nothing much to offer to the team.
“I can vividly recall that the likes of great players in the mode of Finidi George, Taribo West, Kanu Nwankwo, Austin Okocha, Richard Owobokiri, Emmanuel Osuigwe among others started from Nigeria football league before they graduated to play in Europe through which they later invited to Super Eagles camp to represent Nigeria”
“Besides, I’m also of the view that going to secondary school football competitive games could equally serves as a a good platform to discover budding talents that could be nurtured to become great stars in near future”, Okonkwo frankly added.
Okonkwo, therefore, prayed that any football coach to be engaged by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to tinker the Super Eagles should be told not to confine himself in staying in big hotel alone but to be visiting some of our local league match venues, with a view to discover some good players that can be drafted into the Super Eagles team.
“Indeed, I stand to be challenged that there some young good players in the Nigeria Professional League. If spotted and exposed, could give the some of the invited foreign based players a stiff competitive fight in securing a postion in the team”, Okonkwo emphatically stated.
Ezechukwu, one of the youngest members of the Nigerian contingent at the championship in Ghana, said her ambition was to win the 100m title in style and cap it with a new personal record.
The fresh secondary school graduate explained that she is fully focused on contributing to Team Nigeria’s medal hopes and is determined to deliver strong performances across her events.
“My main objective in Ghana is to clinch the 100m title and the 4×100m,” Ezechukwu told Tidesports source.
“Nigeria can be assured of my very best and my commitment to the Team. I would love to set a new personal best in Ghana, but anything that comes, I will take it. The spirit in the team is high, and I think we are ready to go,” she said.
Ezechukwu, who was part of Nigeria’s women’s 4x100m relay squad at the World Relays in Botswana, said the experience gained from that competition has strengthened her mindset heading into the continental championships.
She admitted that she learned valuable lessons from her previous outing, including a difficult moment during the relay where an early error affected the team’s rhythm, but said she has used the experience to improve her discipline and composure.
“The secret is just being disciplined, training hard and trusting my coach and believing in God, and the result will show,” she added.
The teenager is part of a 41-member Nigerian team comprising 24 female and 17 male athletes competing at the championships, which begin today at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Nigeria are expected to compete across multiple track and field events as they aim for a strong finish against the continent’s elite athletes.
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