Team Nigeria has qualified for the men’s 4×100 metres relay event of the forthcoming World Athletics Championships in Oregon, U.S.
The quartet of Favour Ashe, Godson Brume, Alaba Akintola and Udodi Onwuzurike, who is a reigning World Under-20 champion, ran a new time of 38.34 seconds.
The team booked the ticket for Nigeria at the ongoing trials in Benin, Edo for both the World Athletics Championships and the 2022 Commonwealth Games slated for Birmingham.
The teams from Ghana and Republic of Benin also joined Nigerian athletes at the trials holding at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin.
With the new time, Team Nigeria moved in the rankings above South Africa which was previously holding the best time with 38.51 seconds before the race in Benin.
South Africa’s under-20 team set the record at the World Athletics Championships in Nairobi, Kenya in 2021.
Nigeria now stand a chance of winning a medal in the category 25 years after the effort of the team of Osmond Ezinwa, Olapade Adeniken, Francis Obikwelu and Davidson Ezinwa.
The team had ran 37.94 seconds at the semi-finals in Athens, Greece.
The team, however, had settled for a silver medal after finishing 38.04 seconds in the final behind the Donovan Bailey-inspired Canada.
The North Americans ran a world leading 37.86 seconds to win the gold medal at the tourney.
Also, in a related development the five-time world champions Golden Eaglets on Friday edged the Young Stallions of Burkina Faso 2-1 to win the WAFU B Under-17 Championship at the Cape Coast Stadium in Ghana.
108scoop.com reports that the victory for Nigeria came barely few weeks after they claimed the WAFU B Under-20 Championship.
Then, they had beaten neighbors Republic of Benin in Niger Republic to claim the title.
The under-17 championship’s final match saw Nigeria on the front foot early as forward Abubakar Abdullahi threatened the Burkinabe rear as early as the 8th minute.
That was when his low drive streamed away from goal.
But in the 22nd minute, Abdullahi made up for the missed chance as he rose highest in the box to powerfully nod Emmanuel Michael’s perfect delivery into the net.
Abdullahi missed another golden opportunity to grab a brace, as he fuelled his lines, thereby allowing the Stallions a respite.
The miss would knock hard seven minutes later, when Abdulramane Ouedraogo, equalized for Burkina Faso also with a header.
Two minutes into the second half, Abdullahi got his brace and Nigeria’s second goal, giving the Golden Eaglets a 2-1 lead.
Twelve minutes later, he should have made it a hat-trick with Nigeria’s third but he lost the opportunity.
The loss could once more have proved costly, as the Stallions broke forward, only to see Nigeria goalkeeper Richard Odoh come up with a magnificent save.
Ebube Okeke rocked the crossbar from 25 yards in the 67th minute.
But there were to be no more goals as Nigeria collected a second regional diadem at youth level.
At the end of the game, Nigeria’s goalkeeper Odoh was selected the Man-of-the-Match.
His compatriot Emmanuel Michael had won the prize in all three previous matches —-against Ghana, Togo and Cote d’Ivoire.
