Tokyo 2020 finalist Enoch Adegoke has thrown down the gauntlet after dominating the men’s 100m at MTN CHAMPS Ibadan, making a statement on Day 2 of the competition holding simultaneously at the Lekan Salami Stadium and University of Ibadan Sports Complex.
The former Nigerian Champion who is in his second season as an MTN CHAMPS Ambassador, stormed to a Season’s Best (SB) of 10.20s on home soil, his fastest time in nearly three years, to take the win, which will be a big boost for the sprinter who has been struggling with injuries since Tokyo, and will be looking to be in form for the forthcoming Olympics in Paris.
Adekalu Fakorede who was a member of Nigeria’s 4x100m GOLD-winning team at the African Games was inspired to an equal Personal Best (PB) of 10.23s to finish 2nd behind Adegoke, while Olaolu Olatunde clocked a new PB of 10.47s in 3rd place.
Prior to MTN CHAMPS Ibadan, Olatunde’s fastest time was 10.64s. Having had surgery last year and staying away from track for some time, Olatunde ran a new lifetime best of 10.62s in heats and then improved on it by 0.02s in the semis.
Arena Academy’s Janet Adeshiyan (11.94s) was the woman to beat in the 100m where she finished ahead of African Games Long jump Bronze medallist Prestina Ochonogor (11.97s) and Taiwo Aremu of Jaf Athletics who was 3rd in 12.07s.
Ochonogor won two medals on Day 2 of MTN CHAMPS Ibadan as she also triumphed in the women’s Long Jump where she made a leap of 6.20m.
In the Junior Boys (U20) class, John Caleb (10.73s), Ibrahim Ajibare (10.88s) and Ibukun Daramola were the Top 3 finishers, while Stella Oyebode (12.06s) dominated the Girls’ category, with Mariam Jegede (12.29s) and Tumininu Sanyaolu following.
Sewekan Thovoetin of Osheku Striders secured a hard-fought victory in the men’s 400m where he returned a time of 47.53s. Ajayi Kehinde of Easy Athletics and Afam Michael finished 2nd and 3rd respectively in 47.65s and 48.56s respectively.
Emmanuel Ajayi emerged winner in the Junior Boys’ High Jump event to finish ahead of Michael Oyebode and Gideon Adoro.
Athletes in the Cadet (U-14) and Youth (U-17) categories competed in the preliminaries and heats of the 100m and 200m respectively. Some of the athletes who stood out in the U-14 class included Sarafat Salimot of Christ Girls’ who topped the Cadet category in the 100m and 200m heats with 13.2 and 27.53s respectively, and Anglican High’s Goodnews Saturday was the second overall fastest in the 100m and had the third fastest time in the 200m.
In the Boys’ U-14 100m preliminaries, Jamiu Segun Ogunde of Ogbogbo Bamties Secondary School, Adekunle Fawas of Basorun Ojoo Secondary School, and Caleb British International’s Darius Ayomide finished ahead of the rest of the field and will battle for honours in the semis and final. The competition continues until Monday, 8th April.
