4. Mercy Ntia-Obong
Another upcoming sprinter who’s up for big surprises this year is Cross River State athlete, Mercy Ntia-Obong.
Ntia-Obong’s performance last year gives an indication of the promising future awaiting the country’s female sprinters if well nurtured. While Alphonsus was more impressive in the 100m last year, Ntia-Obong proved she could combine both the 100m and 200m effectively.
The sprinter kicked off her impressive season at the Dr. D.K. Olukoya Championships where she clocked Personal Bests (PB) of 11.47s and 23.17s respectively, before going on to finish 2nd in the final behind Alphonsus, and secure her place at the World Junior Championships.
In Poland, she was the first of only two Nigerians to make the final, dropping her time in the Heats, before lowering it further in the semis in 11.62s. However, the finals didn’t go her way as she finished 8th in the race, and was ruled out of the 200m due to an injury.
Ntia-Obong came back stronger at Making of Champions‘ (MoC) Top Sprinter competition in Lagos where she was one of the standout performers at the 3-day competition. She stormed to the 100 and 200m titles in 11.96s and 24.15s, before anchoring her state, Cross-River to the 4x100m GOLD in 46.57s.
Her performance in 2016 is worthy of recognition, considering her PB in the 200m is the fastest by a home based athlete, and second fastest in the country behind Blessing Okagbare.
She has definitely shown her strength in these events and has proven that if injury free, she can continually improve on her times, which might see her surprisingly make the Nigerian team to the World Championships in London.
Why did the writer state ” the light skinned sprinter”. That does not make her prettier, nor smart or faster. I can believe that this was published.