Nigeria will be represented in four out of five relays – men’s and women’s 4x100m, women’s 4x400m and the mixed 4x400m – at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, the best representation the country has had in the relays since 2007!
In 2007, the country qualified to compete in four relays as well, and hasn’t quite come close until now.
Men’s 4x100m
While we might be interested in the chances of the men’s 4x100m, it’d be good to pay attention to the subtle nuances of the depth of sprints Nigeria has seen on her men’s 100m side especially. For the first time in the nation’s very storied history (in Athletics), three men have broken 10 seconds within just a season!
Godson Brume stands atop that list with his blazing 9.90s at the NCAA Championships that won him Silver, followed closely by Stanford standout Udodi Onwuzurike who has run 9.92s, and then Favour Ashe with 9.96s.
Although only Ashe will make the trip to the Budapest 2023 World Championships of this trio, Nigeria is still deep in its bag with talents. This is demonstrated in the fact that the season’s top 10 list rounds out at 10.24s!
Joining Ashe on the men’s 4x100m team to Budapest is National 100m Champion, Usheoritse Itsekiri who is on the brink of breaking 10 seconds and has run a Personal Best (PB) of 10.02s thrice, with two of them coming this season, and one at the National Championships in Benin.
He is followed by three-time National Champion Seye Ogunlewe who has a wealth of experience and has run 10.03s, a PB in 2023.
Alaba Akintola who has mastered the craft of running curves, was a member of the quartet that won a Bronze at the Commonwealth Games in 2022 and also helped the team to qualify for this year’s World Championships. There is no doubt how much talent is on this team, but as we’ve seen so many times at these global championships, what’s most important in relays is team chemistry and clean baton passes.
Completing the team as alternates are Fakorede Adekalu and Karlington Anunagba who also ran on the NCAA circuit this year.
Women’s 4x100m
The women’s 4x100m has been an event where Nigeria has always been well represented over the years at the World Championships, evident in the fact that the nation boasts so many top finishes, and just last year, an African Record at the Oregon 2022 edition.
While this is so, the women’s 4x100m is missing a few legs from last year’s edition but still has a very good team fielded in to run in Budapest.
Rosemary Chukwuma is a returning athlete on this very young team and perhaps has the most experience as she has been winning global relay medals since 2018! She was National 100m Champion in 2021 and has a Season’s Best (SB) of 11.01s and a marginally windy 10.85s while competing for her school, Texas Tech. Chukwuma was quite popular last season for her brilliant mastery of running curves.
There is no describing how much havoc a fit Favour Ofili can wreck in a 4x100m and although she has battled injury in 2023, she still took down so many records for LSU in the indoor season, including a PB, School Record, National and Area Record of 22.11s over 200m.
NJCAA 100m Champion Success Umukoro has also been named to the team which is completed by U-18 stars, Faith Okwose and Justina Eyakpobeyan, who have both been finishing 1-2 in their races so far this season.
Okwose this season has won the National 200m title, African U-18 100m and 200m titles, and the Youth Commonwealth Games 100m and 200m titles, including setting a National U-18 Record of 11.26s over 100m! In all of these outings and performances, Eyakpobeyan was always a step behind her.
Women’s 4x400m
The women’s 4x400m team to Budapest features mostly a very young team, led by Patience Okon-George who has a big wealth of experience and has been on all Nigerian teams to every global championship since 2013! She also has an SB of 51.92s.
The fastest Nigerian woman is Imaobong Nse Uko who also goes in the individual 400m, and is an important addition to this team. She goes to Budapest with a best time of 51.51s and was a core member of her school, Baylor women’s 4x100m and 4x400m at the NCAA Championships earlier in the season.
Ella Onojuvwevwo who has made massive improvements this year while competing for LSU is also featured on the team with an SB of 51.85s, while Deborah Opeyemi Oke rounds out the quartet.
Mixed 4x400m
Nigeria paying attention to the mixed 4x400m relay, has so far brought great results. Still a new event, the country’s first real representation in the event was in 2021 when they set a new African Record of 3:14.09 at the Paga/MoC Relays to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
Despite setting another Area Record in qualification at the Olympics, the team wasn’t able to get past the first round, but there’s much difference that a year can make, evident in the fact that the team to the 2022 World Championships broke through to the final, going ahead to place 6th overall.
Joined by Kenya for the first time at a global championship, Nigeria goes in strong again for the 2023 World Championships with former members of team, Imaobong Nse Uko and Patience Okon-George present, and joined by Ella Onojuvwevwo.
On the men’s side, National 400m Champion Chidi Okezie and Nigeria’s fastest man Dubem Nwachukwu are the most prominent athletes.
Also, there is Ezekiel Nathaniel, National Record holder in the 400m hurdles who regularly runs brilliant relay legs, going by how well he performed for his school, Baylor, during the NCAA season. With this team, Nigerian track and field fans should be on record watch again!
