Nigerian athletes kept improving their performances across various indoor meets over the weekend, with some competing in their first event of the year.
Joshua Caleb continued his impressive run this indoor season, dominating the GNAC Indoor Championships in Spokane, winning both the 60m and 200m. He claimed the 60m title in 6.66s, then won the 200m in 21.07s just an hour later. Caleb remains the fastest man in NCAA Division II this year, with Personal Bests (PBs) of 6.57s (60m) and 20.82s (200m) respectively.
Joy Udo-Gabriel raced to a new lifetime best of 7.25s in the women’s 60m at the Arkansas Qualifier and the fastest time in NCAA Division II this season. She improved again in the final, clocking 7.24s to win, all within the space of an hour, breaking her Missouri Southern School Record twice. This was her fourth record-breaking run of the year. Leah Bertrand finished 2nd in 7.25s, while Sade McCreath-Tardiel took 3rd in 7.28s.
West Texas’ Jerry Jakpa set a new indoor 200m PB, clocking a time of 20.88s to win his heat and lead qualifiers at the Lone Star Conference in Albuquerque. Earlier, he had secured a spot in the 60m final with 6.81s. The next day, Jakpa bettered his time to 20.87s to finish 2nd in the men’s 200m.
Blessing Akintoye won the 400m title with a PB of 53.10s, ahead of Peace Nwalehia, who also ran a PB of 53.33s. Later, Akintoye returned for the 200m and clocked another PB of 23.78s.
Justine Jimoh (LSU) cleared 2.14m, his best jump this season, to tie for 1st place in the men’s high jump at the LSU Twilight Meet. This mark puts him in LSU’s all-time Top 10. His PB is 2.17m, which he set last year as a freshman at East Texas A&M.
African Indoor Record holder over 200m Favour Ofili opened her 2025 season with a 7.26s run to win her 60m heat in Baton Rouge and placed 2nd with 7.25s, with Thelma Davies taking the win in 7.23s.
National Record holder Edose Ibadin was in action at the Penn State Tune-Up where he ran 1:47.71s to finish 4th in the elite men’s 800m final, his fastest indoor 800m time since 2022.
Chukwuebuka Enekwechi placed 6th at the Hvězdy v Nehvizdech meet in Czech Republic with a throw of 20.65m. Leonardo Fabbri won with 21.45m, while Zane Weir finished 2nd with 21.19m.
