By Peter Omopo
Nigeria’s women’s 4×400 metres relay team has secured qualification for the 2026 World Relays Championships following a strong performance at the MTN Champs Athletics Classics held in Calabar, Cross River State.
The quartet of Patience Okon-George, Anita Enaruna, Treasure Okereke and Jecinter Lawrence delivered an impressive run on the final day of the competition, finishing with a time of 3:31.14 to seal a place at the global event scheduled to be hosted in Botswana.
The performance lifted Nigeria to 21st position in the world rankings and displaced Mexico from the qualification spots for the championships, which will be staged in Africa for the first time.
In the same race, Ethiopia finished second with a time of 3:38.31, while Nigeria’s B team placed third after recording 3:40.50.
Nigeria’s men’s 4×400 metres relay team, however, narrowly missed qualification after posting a time of 3:04.59, falling just short of the 3:03 qualifying mark.
Team Nigeria athlete Nathaniel Samson expressed confidence that the men’s team could still achieve the required standard in future competitions.
He noted that the athletes recorded times between 3:04 and 3:05 during the race and said additional races would provide opportunities to improve and eventually meet the qualifying time.
Samson also highlighted the challenges facing Nigerian athletes, particularly limited financial support, stressing that adequate funding would enhance their ability to deliver better results.
The Lagos-based athlete, who has represented Nigeria at the Olympics, Commonwealth Games, African Games and the African Championships, said he is targeting a personal milestone of running the 400 metres in under 45 seconds this season.
He commended the MTN Champs initiative, describing it as a platform capable of discovering and nurturing young athletic talents across the country.
Samson added that grassroots competitions such as MTN Champs could help Nigeria produce more elite athletes similar to world record holder Tobi Amusan and other rising stars.
In other events at the competition, Team MTN B won the junior men’s 4×100 metres relay with a time of 43.32 seconds, finishing ahead of Team MTN A, which clocked 43.62 seconds, while Golden Edge came third with 44.58 seconds.
Grace and Gold also dominated the girls’ relay race, finishing first with a time of 48.89 seconds ahead of Secondary Commercial School, Ibiaku Itam and Government Secondary School, Idang.
In the individual races, Toheebat Jimoh won the women’s 200 metres with a personal best of 24.51 seconds, while Olaoluwa Obashola secured victory in the men’s 200 metres with a time of 21.74 seconds.
