Nigeria’s emerging sensation in the men’s 400m Hurdles, Miles Ukaoma put up one of the most outstanding perfomances at the 2015 Nigerian Trials, claiming his first national title with a Personal Best (PB) and Championship Record (CR) of 48.84s at the Warri Township Stadium on Friday.
The 23-year old’s time puts him as the third best performer in Nigerian history, behind National Record (NR) holder Henry Amike (48.50s) and Amaechi Morton (48.79s), who finished 3rd in Warri with a time of 50.54s. 2013 champion, Henry Okorie returned a time of 50.24s to claim 2nd position.
Ukaoma arrived the competition as the man to beat, coming with a Season’s Best (SB) of 49.25s, which placed him on the 33rd spot in the world. It was evident that he was in much better form than defending champion, Morton who has been out of sorts this year, and is currently No.140 on the IAAF Top list with a time of 50.50s.
Ukaoma won Heat 1 with a time of 51.24s, much to the consternation of the crowd who felt he could have gone faster, having visibly slowed down as he approached the finishing line. It was an entirely different ball game in the final as a charged-up Miles perfectly executed his race, stopping the clock in 48.84s, and sending the crowd into a frenzy.
Record holder Amike could not hide his excitement, pumping his fists into the air in celebration, perhaps in anticipation of a successor who would break his 28-year old record set at the 1987 World Championships in Rome, Italy.
An elated Miles said after his race, “I felt very good! I knew that the time was going to come. I had been running the same time week in week out, and the drop was ready. Today I was just able to focus, and I was able to get something from the track and from the competition; I just put together a very good race.
“My victory is a big confidence booster; I’ve been running with all these guys since the beginning of the season. They have been having time drops and I was getting worried because I hadn’t had mine, but my coach just told me to stay focused and to practice what i had learned, and that the drop would eventually come; his prophecy came true today.”
When asked if he had Amike’s NR in sight, Ukaoma revealed that he was more interested in being consistent: “I am more interested in competing well and making it to the finals of the World Championships and competing at a high level to represent Nigeria the way it deserves to be represented; if the NR comes with my performance, then I’ll also be happy. I am more interested in competing well than breaking championship records.”
It would be interesting to see how the rivalry between Miles and former African champion, Morton plays out ahead of next year’s Olympic Games in Rio, considering that the latter is yet to hit the form that saw him emerge as continental champion in 2012. Incidentally, both hurdlers are former NCAA champions: Morton won the title in 2012 while Ukaoma did same last year.
African Championships Silver medallist, Amaka Ogoegbunam retained her national title in the women’s event with a time of 55.78s. She finished ahead of record holder, Ajoke Odumosu (56.56s) who is making a return to action after being away for almost two years, taking time out to have a baby and to recover from a car accident. Samson Nathaniel’s older sibling, Glory placed 3rd in 57.44s.
Ogoegbunam revealed that she was getting ready ahead of next month’s World Championships in Beijing: “I know it’s going to be tough, so I’m just going to take a few days off to rest. I’m very happy to have retained my title though I didn’t feel scared that Ajoke was competing. I just focused on myself and my race. I’ve been wanting to run faster but the times have not come as expected. But I believe that things will fall in place with time.”
Speaking about her return, Odumosu said, “I feel good but at the same time I know that there is room for a lot of improvement after returning from an absence of two years, having had a baby, and then a car crash. I’m back to being hale and healthy. I’m just working towards getting my confidence in the track and concentrating on improving my time.”
