After a marathon journey which involved Team Nigeria sleeping over in Dubai on Monday night, the contingent finally arrived in Warsaw, Poland on Tuesday, and are en route the Games village in Bydgoszcz, which is about three and a half hours away from the capital.
The team took off from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja on Sunday night, and it’s taken them nearly two full days to get to Bydgoszcz, causing some of the athletes to miss the morning session of Day 1 of the ongoing IAAF World Junior Championships holding at the Zawisza Stadium.
The athletes affected by the late arrival are Emmanuel Arowolo and Raymond Ekevwo, who were to compete in the men’s 100m on Tuesday morning.
Arowolo was listed in Heat 3 but Did Not Start (DNS), and the heat was won by USA’s Noah Lyles who clocked the fastest time overall in the heats. Derick Silva (10.34s) and homeboy Eryk Hampel (10.39s, PB) placed 2nd and 3rd in the race.
Nigerian Junior Champion Raymond Ekevwo was to compete in Heat 6, which was won by Mario Burke of the Barbados (10.33s), with Japan’s Kenta Oshima (10.44s) and Raheem Chambers (10.45s) of Jamaica following.
However, Priase Idamadudu, who has been scheduled to compete in Heat 4 of the women’s 400m heats slated for 7.34pm (6.34pm Nigerian time) during the evening session, might just be able to meet up with her race. That notwithstanding, one would wonder about her fitness levels after spending two days in transit to Poland.
