Despite Nigeria’s lateness in selecting her athletes for the Silesia 2021 World Relays which held last weekend in Chorzow, Poland, there seemed to be hope when a provisional list finally surfaced on World Athletics’ website as the nation appeared to be in a good place on paper amongst the 36 other countries entered to compete in various events, with athletes like Blessing Okagbare and Divine Oduduru expected to lead a list of 24 athletes.
However, two days to the start of the event, it was announced that the nation – like the US, Jamaica, Australia and Canada – for the first time since the inception of the competition, wouldn’t be represented at the biennial event as it would appear that the long-standing battle within the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) made it difficult to secure visas for the athletes in time for the competition.
However, with the team set to embark on a training tour to the United States soon, it becomes imperative that the athletes are exposed to as many quality competitions as possible in the race for time ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, which is less than three months away.
There are a total of 16 possible slots available for Olympic relay qualification, eight of which were awarded to finalists at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, while finalists from the recently concluded World Relays also secured automatic qualification in the event that would have seemingly been the best way to qualify for Nigeria.
Men’s 4x100m
For the men’s 4x100m, four of the finalists from the Doha 2019 Worlds were again represented in the final of the event in Poland, meaning that four other countries (Italy, Denmark, Ghana & Germany) had secured qualification, bringing the tally of qualified nations up to 12 of the required 16.
With the rest of the four spots to be awarded based on quota places which are dependent on top performances on WA between May 2019 to 29 June, 2021, Nigeria not only finds herself in a difficult place, but also has limited time to secure qualification.
It also goes without saying that top sprint nations like Canada (37.91s), Jamaica (38.15s) and Trinidad & Tobago (38.46s) are also still vying for qualification and in quota places, are currently ahead of Nigeria. To move into the 16th and final spot, the country’s men’s 4x100m team will have to run at least faster than the Turkish team that presently occupies that spot with 38.47s and to play safe, in the low 38s region.
Women’s 4x100m
Of the eight countries that had nailed automatic qualification by making the final of the event at the Doha 2019 World Championships, only two of those countries made the final of the World Relays – eventual winners, Italy, and Switzerland.
This meant that six new countries; Poland, Netherlands, Japan, Ecuador, Denmark and France also secured qualification by virtue of making the final in Silesia.
And although the chances in the women’s equivalent slimmed due to the fact that there are now two available spots for qualification, Nigeria presently sits at the bottom of the two slots in 16th place, based on the available quota spaces with a time of 43.05s, just behind Brazil whose time is a hundredth of a second faster.
Men’s 4x400m
The men’s 4x400m team have to break 3:03 seconds and exactly run faster than Mexico’s 3:02.89 to reserve a spot at the Tokyo Olympic Games and this is because four finalists from the Doha 2019 World Championships made the final of the event at the World Relays, with four new spots going to Netherlands, Japan, Botswana and South Africa.
However, all of the the remaining quota spaces have been taken up by countries that have gone quicker – Poland, India, Brazil & Mexico. Nigeria’s 4x400m team is currently placed 19th, while their best within the qualification period remains 3:03.42 from the African Games in Rabat.
Women’s 4x400m
Of all the Olympic relays, the Nigerian women’s 4x400m has made the most appearances at the Olympics in the past 21 years, having competed in four out of five Olympic Games between 2000 to 2016, with Rio being the only time they didn’t qualify.
After the World Relays, four new automatic qualifiers emerged while four already-qualified countries made the final, which implies that four quota spaces are left open.
While Nigeria’s 4x400m women’s best time within the qualification period is 3:30.32, the nation would have been assured a chance to qualify based on the final quota place, but the Dominican Republic team clocked a National Record (NR) of 3:30.02, moving Nigeria to 17th and just outside the qualification spot.
The team will need more competitions to run faster and move at least a place ahead of the Dominican Republic. The countries occupying the other quota spaces include Australia, India and Switzerland.
Mixed 4x400m
Nigeria has never tested the waters of the mixed 4x400m relay in international competitions, but despite that, it could be one of the nation’s strong medal prospects. The National Record (NR) stands at 3:20.53, done by Delta State in winning the event at the 2021 National Sports Festival and with a full squad; Nigeria has to better at least Germany’s 3:16.85 to have a chance at competing in the Olympic Games.
Oregon 2022 World Championships
As it stands, not only does Nigeria face a hearculean task in qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics but also the 2022 World Championships in Oregon, seeing that the Top 10 teams in the men and women’s 4x100m and 4x400m at the World Relays in Poland, automatically qualify for the World Championships. In the Mixed 4x400m, the Top 12 teams from Poland have secured automatic qualification, leaving just four slots to be decided by the toplists.
When one considers that top relay teams like the US and Jamaica, including the likes of the Bahamas, Canada and Australia didn’t compete in Poland and will also be fighting for the few slots left for the Oregon World Championships, it goes without saying that we’ve got our work cut out for us.
