The penultimate day of the MTN CHAMPS Continental Relays Lagos was an exciting spectacle, featuring the highly anticipated Mixed 4x100m and Mixed 4x400m relay finals, along with several thrilling sprint finals.
The highlight of the day was the Mixed 4x100m final making its debut in Nigeria after being officially sanctioned by World Athletics last month. The event is set to be showcased at next month’s World Relays in China.
Representing Team Continental, the quartet of Iyanuoluwa Bada, Janet Adesiyan, Chidera Ezeakor, and Favour Ashe delivered a stellar performance in the Mixed 4x100m final, clocking a national-leading time of 42.91s to claim victory. They finished ahead of Zabranto Athletics (44.69s), D’Victors A (44.88s), and Benin Republic (45.22s).
In the Mixed 4x400m event, a formidable team consisting of Miracle Uwem Donald, Samson Nathaniel, Patience Okon-George, and Emmanuel Ojeli stormed to victory in 3:21.63, finishing ahead of Team MTN (3:31.09) and St. Christy Track Club (3:33.96).
The Junior men’s 400m final saw Team MTN’s Ezekiel Asuquo cause a major upset, handing favourite Gafar Badmus his first defeat of the season. Asuquo clinched the win with an impressive PB of 47.26s, while Badmus settled for 2nd in 47.47s, followed by Eniola Shiro in 48.53s.
Toheebat Jimoh extended Team MTN’s dominance in the Junior women’s 400m, executing a well-strategized race to pull away from the field and secure victory in 55.7h. Bamidele Aishat (57.2h) and Victory Solomon (57.6h) rounded out the podium.
In the Senior men’s 200m semifinals, Emmanuel Ojeli took command, posting the fastest time of 21.07s ahead of Chidera Ezeakor (21.30s) and Thankgod Igube (21.54s).
Patience Okon-George led the women’s 200m semis with a Season’s Best (SB) of 24.03s, finishing ahead of Iyanuoluwa Bada (24.20s) and Miracle Donald-Uwem (24.53s).
In the Junior Men’s category, John Caleb positioned himself for a sprint double, clocking a new PB of 21.19s to top the qualifiers. Qudus Akintoye (21.38s) and Ezekiel Asuquo (21.50s) followed as the 2nd and 3rd fastest.
Hafsoh Bisola, Lucy Nwankwo (24.99s), and Mariam Jegede (25.23s) emerged as the overall fastest qualifiers in the Junior women’s 200m semis.
