All is set for the 2018 National Junior and Youth Championships taking place at the Delta State Polytechnic Ozoro, with many athletes from different regions arriving a day before the competition commences.
There were initial concerns if this competition would go on as planned, after the AFN Golden League which was slated for Ozoro last month was called off because of the Muslim month of prayer (Ramadan).
However, with the World Junior Championships in Finland and the African Youth Games in Algeria all taking place next month, there was need for a trials to select the best athletes to represent the country at these competitions.
Some of the athletes expected to shine and dominate their events include: MoC’s Joy Udo Gabriel who will be going up against the likes of Rosemary Chukwuma and Blessing Ogundiran in the women’s 100m.
Udo Gabriel who has a Personal Best (PB) of 11.42s which she ran at the Commonwealth Games in Australia will be a major challenger for the title, alongside Chukwuma with a PB of 11.54s who will be out to have a say.
If Ogundiran produces the kind of form that saw her race to a PB of 11.48s at the Abuja Golden League, beating Udo Gabriel and Chukwuma to claim victory, she will no doubt be the top challenger for the title.
The men’s 100m will be up for grabs as there hasn’t been many juniors who have sparkled competing with the seniors this season. Although the duo of Clinton Etine and Omubo Gershon will be hoping it’s either of them who secures the win.
Meanwhile in the long distance events, it’s hard seeing beyond Yinka Bamtefa not dominating both the women’s 800m and 1500m, the events she easily won GOLD in at the National Youth Games last year.
Moving to the field events, there will be interesting contests to look forward to as, particularly the High Jump event where there are promising young athletes in both the Boys and Girls categories.
The incentive of traveling to represent Nigeria in Tampere and Algiers respectively, would no doubt be a motivating factor to spur all the athletes in Ozoro to give their best, as most of them aim to take their Athletics career to the next level.
