Jeremiah Jakpa

Jakpa’s career took a turn for the better in 2017 where he stormed to two national medals. His first silverware was gotten at the 2017 National U-20 Championships where he finished 3rd in the men’s 100m. The second was secured a month later at the National Trials held in Abuja where he claimed Bronze in the men’s 200m final.

Following his impressive performances in 2018, Jakpa made his international debut for Nigeria at the African Senior Championships in Asaba where he smashed his PB in the 200m, running inside 21s for the first time in his career to post 20.87s. He made the semis, where he placed 5th in his race. Jakpa ended his 2018 season with a PB in the 100m while racing at the National Sports Festival in Abuja, and narrowly missed out on a medal, finishing 4th in the final.

At the beginning of the 2019 season, Jakpa represented MoC Track Club at the Gaborone International Meet in Botswana and ran in the 100m/200m, eventually setting a PB of 20.84s to finish 2nd in the latter. A few days later, he made his second appearance for Nigeria, this time around at the World Relays in Yokohama, where he was a part of the quartet that raced to a National Record of 1:22.08 in the men’s 4x200m.

The following month, Jakpa stormed to a PB of 20.59s to win the men’s 200m final at the National Open Trials for the African Games held in Abuja. He would go on to replicate those times while running at the Citius Meet in Berne and La Chaux de fonds, both in Switzerland where he ended his season.

Even though the greater part of the 2020 season has been disrupted as a result of the outbreak of the coronavirus, Jakpa remains focused and is working towards representing Nigeria at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021!