Team Nigeria hopes to better one bronze medal showing from Doha 2019

The race for medals at the 2022 World Athletics Championships is officially underway for Team Nigeria in Oregon.

After the hue and cry from some of the dropped athletes and those confronted with visa issues, the attention will now shift primarily to the action on the track and field for the next 10 days.

Team Nigeria had Ese Brume to thank for not leaving Doha empty-handed as she won the solitary bronze medal. Thus, the target in Oregon will be to improve on what was the country’s best outing in almost a decade.

Aside from Blessing Okagbare, who is presently serving an 11-year doping ban, Brume is the only other Nigerian athlete that has won a medal in the last 20 years.

Opening day

Hammer thrower Oyesade Olatoye and the 4x400m mixed relay team will open Team Nigeria’s bid for podium appearances later on Friday at the Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, USA.

Olatoye, drawn in group A of the qualifiers for the final will make history as the first Nigerian to compete in the Hammer throw event in the championships.

For the 4x400m team, Patience Okon-George, Imaobong Nse Uko, Sikiru Adeyemi, Dubem Amene, and Nathaniel Samson will be keen to avoid an early exit.

They are drawn in heat 1 of two first-round heats and will run from lane three, sandwiched between Poland, the reigning Olympic champion in lane two, and the USA, the bronze medal winner in Tokyo in lane four.

Three teams will qualify automatically from the heat for the final while two others with the fastest losing times will join. I will hold the final later on Friday evening. The Nigerian team set a new 3:13.60 African in Tokyo last year.

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Also on Friday evening, the heats for the men’s 100m will hold with Favour Ashe, the reigning fastest man in Nigeria scheduled to take part.

The reigning World U20 Champion, Udodi Onwuzurike, should also be in action.

Also Friday evening, the duo of Chukwuebuka Enekwechi and Dotun Ogundeji will begin their quest for places in the final of the Shot Put event.

Enekwechi, reigning Nigeria and African shot put king, has been drawn in group A while Ogundeji will compete in group B and both will seek to hit the 21.20m automatic qualifying mark or be among the 12 best to qualify for the final.

Before heading to Oregon, Enekwechi told PREMIUM TIMES after the National Trials in Benin City he is keen to improve on the mark he made in Doha.

“The goal is always to do your best, first ensure that you make it to the final and see how it goes from there,” he declared.

Top medal hopefuls

For many analysts, Nigeria’s best medal prospects are unarguably the trio of Ese Brume, Tobi Amusan, and Favour Ofili.

Interestingly, the trio holds records in their respective events, which gives room for a great deal of optimism.

The World Athletics considered Amusan, who will line up against Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn as a title contender.

In an analysis of the women’s 100m hurdles ahead of the world title tournament, WA wrote, “The deep field also includes Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan, the 2018 Commonwealth Games champion and 2021 Diamond Trophy winner. She finished fourth at the Tokyo Games and Doha World Championships but should challenge for a podium place in Eugene.

“The 25-year-old Amusan has been in superb form, winning a Diamond League race in Paris on 18 June in 12.41, the fourth-fastest time of the year. She finished a close second to Camacho-Quinn in Stockholm on 20 June, with the Puerto Rican winning in 12.46 to her 12.50,” the world body stated.

Ofili is also a force to reckon with in the 200m event. After debuting in Doha as the youngest athlete at that year’s World Championships, Ofili has improved a great deal all thanks to her evolution in the United States with the Louisiana State University, LSU.

The 19-year-old is the All-African Games silver medallist and African record-holder in the 200m.

For Brume, who is also an African record-holder, the target will definitely not be just about making the podium but improving on the bronze medals won at the last World Championships in Doha and at the Tokyo Olympics.

It is pertinent to note Brume has never returned home empty-handed from all major competitions in which she has represented Nigeria.

Beyond the aforementioned medal prospects, there is the element of surprise in Team Nigeria that might see the lowly ranked contender cause one or two upsets in the sprints and relay races.