Just three days after registration began for the inaugural Making of Champions (MoC) Grand Prix, over 15 National athletes and 70 others have submitted entries to be part of the competition.
Such is the level expectation that with more than five days left for the deadline of registration to elapse, athletes are not taking anything to chance, neither are they waiting till the last minute to register.
The MoC Grand Prix slated for June 12th & 13th at the Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH) promises to be very exciting going by the calibre of entries already received across all competitions in the GOLD, Silver and Bronze events.
Don’t know who some of these national athletes are? Don’t worry, let’s take you through these high profile names and what events they will be participating in.
In the men’s 100m: Emmanuel Arowolo, Usheoritse Itsekiri, Tega Odele would look to rekindle their rivalry when they do battle for the top prize on offer. The trio would also compete in the 200m, and although Arowolo is the current National champion in this event, he would not be resting on his oars as he aims to match or surpass his Personal Best (PB) of 20.85s.
While in the women’s category, there’s a prospect of some fast races on display as MoC’s Joy Udo-Gabriel who’s the 4th fastest Nigerian in the 100m this season with a Personal Best of 11.42s, line up against Blessing Ogundiran who’s the 5th fastest with a PB of 11.48s which she posted in March at the Abuja Golden League.
Not to be forgetten in the women’s 100m is Mercy Ntia-Obong who will definitely want to make a statement of her own, looking to better her Season’s Best of 11.72s which she ran at the Commonwealth Games Trials in February.
In the quarter-mile, there’s an interesting field to look forward to in both categories, with established names like Orukpe Erayokan and Samson Nathaniel both confirmed to participate in the men’s 400m. Nathaniel would also be competing in the men’s 200m as well.
Yinka Ajayi, who’s Nigeria’s fastest female quarter-miler this season with a lifetime’s best of 51.22s, will undoubtedly be the favourite for the women’s 400m. She will also look to double in the 200m as well, however she will be coming up against the likes of Ntia-Obong, alongside her teammate and friend Onome Nathaniel who would give her a good run.
Meanwhile, Nathaniel will be the undisputed favourite in women’s 400m Hurdles, having recently raced to a PB of 55.01s at the Commonwealth Games in Australia. However Rita Ossai will hope to cause an upset when she squares up against her.
The men’s 110m Hurdles is one event to keep an eye on as the quartet of: Oyeniyi Abejoye, (who is also competing in the 100m and 200m), Bashiru Abdullahi, Martins Ogieriakhi and Decathlete Peter Moreno all make up what will be a formidable line-up. On a good day, any of the four athletes could win that race, it’s left to be seen who would have a perfect jump over the barriers to take the win.
Moreno will come back to compete in the men’s Long Jump, as Precious Okoronkwo who this season jumped 6.43m before going to Australia hopes she can dominate the women’s category again. Okoronkwo is also registered to compete in the women’s 100m and 200m.
Although there have been swift registration by athletes willing to participate in the MoC Grand Prix, Registration will definitely be closing on Friday 8th June, and no further additions will be allowed afterwards. So we’re encouraging everyone wishing to compete to make sure they complete their registration this week!
If your are yet to register, click here to fill the registration form.
