9) Tima Godbless
Being the Track beacon to come out from Bayelsa State in the last decade, it is an unofficial ambassadorial role Tima Seikeseye Godbless has come to embrace with great pride. Godbless has accounted for her state’s source of medals at Youth and National championships, and has been her state’s shining light at these competitions.
However this season, she broke out from being considered a local champion to playing in the big league and gaining proper National acclaim. No longer just the Bayelsan pride, this time around she is winning over more Nigerian fans.
Godbless made her African Senior Championships debut for Nigeria this season, competing in three events in Mauritius. It was her first proper outing for Nigeria at senior level and she came close to making an individual podium placement in her first senior champs.
In her semifinal heat in Port Louis, Godbless ran a new PB of 11.25s, shaving off more than two-tenths of a second from her previous PB of 11.48s. Although she narrowly missed out on a podium placement, coming 4th in the 100m final in 11.27s, she had some contentment and even a feeling of achievement by her outing. She returned for the 4x100m and ran a good back straight to help Nigeria win a GOLD medal, her first senior medal for the country.
However, her biggest highlight of the season came in Cali, a place she wasn’t even meant to be at, having been to Birmingham for the Commonwealth Games. Godbless stormed to a new 100m PB of 11.09s, making her the 4th fastest Nigerian woman this season.
Wow… Tima Godbless 🇳🇬 has just broken the National U-20 Record at the World U-20 Championships in Colombia, storming to a massive Personal Best (PB) of 11.08s!!🔥
She broke the record set by Joan Uduak Ekah which stood for 23 years.😳
AMAZING!!! pic.twitter.com/4s3ANAf4RM— Making of Champions (@MakingOfChamps) August 2, 2022
That was a Nigerian Junior record, surpassing Joan Ekah’s record of 11.11s, and it’s remarkable how she reached these heights within a short time of coming on to the scene. Her first competitive outing in a Nigerian meet was in 2019, but it now looks like a long time ago.
From the start of the 2023 season, we will be seeing Godbless in the NCAA after being snapped up by Louisana State University (LSU) where she will continue her development. And if the success of Favour Ofili at LSU is a pointer of what’s to come, then the school may have hit another goldmine.
