Twenty-four hours after Nigeria’s male and female teams failed to secure relay tickets in the 4x100m event at the ongoing African Region 2 championships in Accra, Ghana, their 4x400m counterparts also failed to scale through on Tuesday.
And unless the AFN is able to secure another event for the athletes to try their luck before the qualification window closes on August 24, Team Nigeria will be without any relay team at the 20th World Athletics championships holding in Tokyo, Japan September, the first time ever in the history of the country’s participation in the World championships since 1983.
On Tuesday in Accra, Nigeria’s 4x400m men could only run 3.05.22, thereby finishing outside the qualifying mark of 2:59.12. Host, Ghana, was second in 3.06.34.
In the women’s 4×400 race, Nigeria ran 3.33.83, which was far outside the required standard to pick the ticket to Tokyo. Ghana ran 3.46.63.
The failure by AFN to pick a single relay ticket is worrisome for many Nigerians, despite possessing one of the fastest quartets in the world this season.
The team of Samuel Ogazi, Nathaniel Ezekiel, Chidi Okezie, and Edidiong Udo, each boasting personal bests between 44.4 and 45.1 seconds, was widely expected not only to qualify but to contend for a podium finish in Tokyo. As it stands, they will likely watch from the sidelines.
On Monday evening in Accra, Team Nigeria secured double gold in the men’s and women’s 4x100m relays, but the performance fell short of meeting the qualification standard required to pick the ticket to Tokyo.
In the men’s 4x100m final, Nigeria’s quartet stormed to victory with a time of 39.74 seconds, narrowly edging out host nation Ghana, which clocked 39.75 seconds. Burkina Faso followed with 40.95 seconds to claim bronze.
While the win was emphatic, the time fell short of the 37.94 national record and did not surpass the 37.87 mark posted by the Netherlands, which currently holds the final qualifying spot for Tokyo.
The women’s team mirrored the men’s success, blazing to gold in 44.92 seconds ahead of Burkina Faso (46.56s) and Ghana (bronze).