John Clifford Umukoro

John Clifford Umukoro is a multi-talented athlete whose prowess cuts across the sprints and hurdles, which saw him compete in th

John Clifford is a multi-talented athlete who has the potential to excel in any event he puts his mind into, be it the sprints or hurdles. Born on Clifford’s potential was showcased at the Making of Champions (MoC) Trials held in Ughelli towards the end of 2018 where he put up an outstanding display. His tall frame also added to his appeal and he was snapped up by the club and relocated to Lagos.

Clifford’s first outing as an MoC athlete was at the 2019 National U-20 Championships where he put up an impressive performance to finish 2nd in his 400m and 4th in the final, narrowly missing a place on the podium in his maiden competition for MoC. At the second MoC Grand Prix in Lagos, Clifford raced in the 110m Hurdles competitively for the first time and settled for 2nd place in his heat.

Clifford’s encouraging performances saw him compete at the National Senior Championships where he raced in the 200m and 400m, and he went on to set a new Personal Best (PB) of 21.73s to finish 2nd in the 200m B Final.

His 2020 started on a bright note when he stormed to a new PB of 48.78s at the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) All-Comers in Akure. He followed it up with another PB of 21.55s in the 200m at the AFN Classics in Ekiti a fortnight later. There’s no telling how much faster Clifford can go!