Team Nigeria ended their campaign at the 2026 World Relays in Gaborone, Botswana, on Sunday by securing two more tickets to the 2027 World Athletics Championships in Beijing, as well as another ticket to the World Athletics Ultimate Championship slated for Budapest in September, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Having picked up a mixed 4x100m relay ticket with an African record on the opening day and missing out in the other five events, there were fresh opportunities in the repechage on Day 2, and two were successfully taken.
The quartet of Samson Nathaniel, Mary Kudoro, Chidi Okezie and Patience Okon-George started the day in the mixed 4x400m, running a season’s best of 3:12.88 to place second behind South Africa, who overtook them on the home straight to win in 3:12.77.
Nigeria and South Africa swapped positions multiple times during the race, and it took the experience of Okon-George to hold off pressure from third-placed Germany and secure Nigeria’s second World Championships ticket.
After succumbing to baton exchange errors in the women’s 4x100m on Saturday, the quartet of Rosemary Nwankwo, Obi Chukwuka, Maria Thompson-Omokwe and Miracle Ezechukwu returned for the repechage and produced a season’s best of 42.94s to place second behind France (42.92s, SB) and book their ticket to Beijing.
The story was different for the men’s 4x100m team, who finished third in their repechage heat and missed out on qualification. The team of Favour Ashe, James Emmanuel, Tejiri Godwin and reigning National Sports Festival champion Chidera Ezeakor ran 38.50s, finishing behind Belgium and Jamaica.
Similarly, the men’s 4x400m team ran 3:01.43, just milliseconds shy of a qualifying spot behind Spain and Senegal in a dramatic finish.
Gafar Badmus ran a strong first leg (45.83s), and Emmanuel Ojeli put Nigeria ahead with a faster 45.06s on the second leg. Victor Ime maintained the pace with a 45.47s split on the third leg, while Ezekiel Asuquo closed in 45.07s, but it was not enough to secure qualification.
Their women’s counterparts did not start in the women’s 4x400m repechage, leaving Nigeria with a total of three tickets for the 2027 World Championships.
Despite the disappointments on the final day, the mixed 4x100m relay team also qualified for the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship, set to be held in Budapest in September, after finishing among the top six in the final, which was won by Jamaica in a world record time of 39.62s.
Read the full article here
