Sports
Okpekpe 10km Road Race Returns Next Year
The Okpekpe International 10km Road Race, one of Nigeria’s most prestigious road-running events, is set to make a grand return in May 2026.
According to Mike Itemuagbor, CEO of Pamodzi Sports International, organizers of the event, the race will come back bigger in scope, reaffirming its status as a world-class sporting event.
“The Okpekpe race is coming back stronger in 2026. Circumstances beyond our control ensured we could not hold this year. We have received a lot of inquiries from both athletes and officials who wanted to participate in the event, which would have held last month, and we explained to them that the race will come back next year for its 11th edition,” Itemuagbor stated.
The Okpekpe Road Race remains special in Nigerian sports history as the first road-running event to have its course measured by a World Athletics-certified course measurer as well as the first road race in West Africa to receive a label status in 2015.
This recognition came eight years after World Athletics began classifying road races into categories. Since then, the race has grown from a bronze label to become the first gold label 10km road race in West Africa.
The label status signifies the world-class nature of the event, attracting elite athletes from across the globe. Over the years, the race has welcomed competitors from Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Morocco, Bahrain, and Nigeria, among others.
The event has not only put Nigeria on the global athletics map but has also inspired other race organisers in the country to aspire for label status.
Beyond its athletic significance, the race has played a transformative role in the Okpekpe community and its surroundings. The event has opened up the rustic, rural town to the world, bringing economic and tourism benefits to Edo State.
The race has also encouraged the development of other road races in Nigeria, many of which now have their courses measured by certified professionals.
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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