Nigeria mixed 4x100m relay team reaches final
Team Nigeria’s quartet in the mixed 4x100m relay has qualified for the final at the ongoing World Athletics Relays in Gaborone, Botswana, after finishing fourth in their heat. The team—Favour Ashe, Jennifer Chukwuka-Obi, Chidera Ezeakor and Maria Thompson—clocked 40.24 seconds, setting a new African record. They qualified alongside race winners Canada, who posted a world […]
Team Nigeria’s quartet in the mixed 4x100m relay has qualified for the final at the ongoing World Athletics Relays in Gaborone, Botswana, after finishing fourth in their heat.
The team—Favour Ashe, Jennifer Chukwuka-Obi, Chidera Ezeakor and Maria Thompson—clocked 40.24 seconds, setting a new African record. They qualified alongside race winners Canada, who posted a world record time of 40.07s, as well as Germany and the Netherlands, who placed second and third respectively.
It is the only event in which Nigeria secured automatic qualification for the final at the two-day meet, having competed in four other races.
The performance also earned the mixed relay team a place at the World Athletics Championships, with their record time securing one of the available non-automatic qualification slots.
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However, Nigeria fell short of automatic qualification in the men’s 4x100m, men’s 4x400m and mixed 4x400m relays. The Athletics Federation of Nigeria attributed the results to inexperience and late withdrawals.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the federation said the absence of three foreign-based athletes forced relatively inexperienced home-based runners to step in.
“It’s imperative to state that three key members of Team Nigeria could not make the trip to Gaborone,” the statement read.
“They are Rosemary Chukwuma, Blessing Ogundiran and Anita Enaruna, who could have strengthened the women’s 4x100m, women’s 4x400m and mixed 4x400m teams, where Nigeria failed to secure qualification for the 2027 World Championships.”
Nigeria will have another opportunity to qualify for those events through the repechage rounds scheduled for early Sunday.