Ochonogor wins as Commonwealth Games Trials hit Day 2

Ochonogor wins as Commonwealth Games Trials hit Day 2

Prestina Ochonogor emerged the winner of the women Long Jump on the first day of the Commonwealth 2026 National Trials at the Yabatech Sports Complex, Yaba, Lagos.

With the absence of National Record holder in the event, Ese Brume, US-based Ochonogor jumped the distance of 6.57m ahead of other competitors.

The men’s Triple Jump final saw Olaoluwa Akindunbi of Arena Academy jumping a distance of 16.08m, a new Personal Best, to win the event while the women 5000m race was won by Delta State’s Vivian Obadiah with a time of 17:24.85, a new PB for her.

Nigerian sprinters also warmed the track in the 100metres preliminaries and heat on the first day.

While welcoming the athletes and officials to Lagos, the president of the Athletic Federation of Nigeria, Tonobok Okowa, apologized for the one-day postponement as the event was expected to start on Saturday rather than the Sunday it started.

He however called on the athletes to give their best while also assuring them of the full support from the federation.

Speaking with Journalists in Lagos, the Director General of the National Sports Commission, Bukola Olopade, who was a special guest to the trials hailed the performance of the athletes applauding the efforts of the young athletes whom he described as the future of track and field in Nigeria.

He also praised the AFN as one of the Federation interested in grassroots development.

In his own words, the 1st Vice-president of the AFN, Abubakar Ladan Zurmi, said Nigerians should wait for the remaining two days as the athletes are ready to give their all.

According to him, the federation would have postponed the event also if it were the home-based athletes that got stuck due to force majeure as they did in the case of the foreign-based.

The trials continue on Monday (today) with other events.