Nigeria Sets African U20 Relay Record, Eyes Medal as Athletes Advance at World Championships
Oru LeonardÂ
Nigeria’s campaign at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Eugene gathered momentum on Thursday as the country’s mixed 4x100m relay team shattered the African U20 record to qualify for the final, while several other athletes booked places in the semifinals and finals of their respective events.
The quartet of Tejiri Godwin, Rosemary Nwankwo, Perfect Faye and Miracle Ezechukwu delivered a remarkable performance, finishing second in their heat in 41.91 seconds to qualify for the final. The time set a new Nigerian U20 record and became the fastest U20 performance ever recorded by an African team in the mixed 4x100m relay.
Nigeria entered the final exchange trailing the leaders, but anchor runner Miracle Ezechukwu produced a sensational 10.05-second split, powering past Germany and closing rapidly on the United States before crossing the finish line.
The record-breaking performance has placed Team Nigeria firmly among the medal contenders ahead of the relay final.
In the women’s 400 metres, Jecinta Lawrence and Faith Ezechukwu both secured qualification for the semifinals. Lawrence clocked 53.97 seconds in a dramatic dead heat for third place with Germany’s Eni Kuske, while Faith Ezechukwu finished third in her heat in 54.38 seconds to earn automatic qualification.
Nigeria also celebrated success in the men’s triple jump, where Precious Opinion produced a personal best leap of 16.02 metres, surpassing the automatic qualifying standard of 16.00 metres to advance to the final as one of the top five qualifiers. His performance has strengthened Nigeria’s hopes of another podium finish.
The latest achievements build on the impressive outing of Jessica Oji, who earlier qualified for the women’s shot put final after leading the qualification round with a throw of 17.56 metres.
With athletes progressing across multiple events and the relay team rewriting African history, Team Nigeria heads into the next stages of the championships with growing confidence and strong prospects of winning medals.
The update was contained in a statement issued by Kola Daniel, Special Assistant on Media in the Office of the Director-General of the National Sports Commission.
