Joy Udo-Gabriel, Favour Ofili, Rosemary Chukwuma and Grace Nwokocha became the first Nigerian team in 11 years to qualify for the women’s 4x100m final at the World Championships, racing to a Season’s Best (SB) of 42.68s to finish 3rd in Heat 2 of the event and secure a spot in Saturday’s final.
Their race was won by USA who stormed to a World Lead (WL) 41.56s as Spain set a new National Record (NR) of 42.61s in 2nd. Other countries that made the final include Great Britain, Jamaica, Germany, Italy and Switzerland.
The last time Nigeria competed in the final of the women’s 4x100m was at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu when the quartet of Gloria Asumnu, Damola Osayomi, Agnes Osazuwa and Blessing Okagbare sped to 5th place with a mark of 42.93s.
It was a day to forget for the men’s 4x100m team in Oregon as the squad comprising Raymond Ekevwo, Godson Brume, Udodi Onwuzurike and Favour Ashe suffered a botched baton exchange and was subsequently disqualified. USA dominated the race with a WL of 37.87s, followed by Great Britain and Ghana.
They will be joined in the final by France, Canada, Jamaica, Brazil and Great Britain.
