Team Nigeria Women’s 4x400m relay qualifies for World Relays

Team Nigeria Women’s 4x400m relay qualifies for World Relays

The MTN CHAMPS Athletics Classics in Calabar came to a fitting conclusion on Day 3 of the competition, delivering several memorable moments, including the qualification of Team Nigeria’s women’s 4x400m relay team for the upcoming World Relays Championships scheduled to hold in Botswana in May.

Led by veteran and three-time Olympian Patience Okon-George alongside promising youngsters Anita Enaruna, Treasure Okereke, and Jecinter Lawrence, the quartet clocked a solid 3:31.14 to move up to 21st in the World Rankings, displacing Mexico to secure their spot at this year’s edition of the World Relays, which will be hosted on African soil for the first time. Team Ethiopia finished a distant second in 3:38.31, while Team Nigeria B placed third in 3:40.50.

This marks the second time a Nigerian team has secured qualification for the World Relays at an MTN CHAMPS competition. The mixed 4x100m quartet – currently the only other Nigerian team to have qualified for the World Relays – achieved the feat at the MTN CHAMPS Continental Relays in Lagos last year.

The men’s 4x400m team narrowly missed out on qualification, falling just under two seconds short of the required mark. The quartet of Emmanuel Ojeli, Gafar Badmus, Victor Sampson, and Samson Nathaniel clocked 3:04.59, needing to run faster than 3:03.46 to qualify. Team Nigeria B finished second in 3:11.78, while Team Ethiopia placed third in 3:21.44.