It was an amazing outing for Team MTN Athletes at the MoC Athletics Academy who made their international debuts, donning the green and white colours for Nigeria at the African U18 & U20 Athletics Championships held in Abeokuta, Ogun State, from July 16th to 20th.
Following successful performances at the National U18 & U20 Trials in Sagamu where Toheebat Jimoh won the women’s U20 400m, Ezekiel Asuquo placed 3rd in the men’s U20 400m, and Lucy Nwankwo finished 3rd and 2nd in the women’s U20 200m and 100m, respectively, they earned their spots on the Nigerian team to the African U18 & U20 Championships.
At the Championships, Jimoh clocked a Personal Best (PB) of 53.00s to claim the Bronze medal in the women’s 400m as part of the Nigerian podium sweep in the event as Favour Onyah (52.47s) and Anita Enaruna (52.97s) placed 1st and 2nd respectively. Jimoh ran the fastest time overall in the heats with a then PB of 53.77s. It is worth noting that Jimoh came to the competition with a PB of 54.04s.
She ran a swift second leg in the women’s 4x400m, playing a pivotal role as she and her teammates broke the 28-year-old Championships Record with a new time of 3:37.02.
Lucy Nwankwo was the only MOC athlete to compete in three events, appearing in the 100m, 200m & 4x100m. Nwankwo recorded a PB of 11.80s in the heats of the 100m, improving on her previous PB of 11.99s, which was the 2nd fastest time overall but settled for 4th in a tense final, narrowly missing the Bronze.
She bounced back in the 200m heats, running the quickest time overall in a PB of 24.07s. Nwankwo then earned the Bronze medal in the final in 24.24s, completing the Nigerian sweep that saw Success Oyibu (23.56s) take GOLD while Chioma Nweke (23.95s) got the Silver. She was also a member of the victorious 4x100m quartet, putting Nigeria in the lead from the get-go with her terrific lead-off leg.
Asuquo stood out in the men’s 400m, from being the least ranked Nigerian in terms of PBs registered for the event, to being the top-placed Nigerian in the final. Asuquo came to Abeokuta with a PB of 46.42s but rose to the occasion by claiming the Silver medal in a scorching PB of 45.83s behind Botswana’s Justice Oratile (45.58s).
His teammates Victor Sampson (45.87s) and Gafar Badmus (45.97s) placed 3rd and 4th respectively. Asuquo ran a brilliant anchor leg in the men’s 4x400m, where he overtook Botswana’s anchor to clinch the GOLD, but unfortunately, the team got disqualified after a lane infringement.
Overall, the Championships provided a good experience for the MoC athletes who were discovered from Seasons 1 and 2 of MTN CHAMPS, and are being trained by Olympic medallist Deji Aliu. The athletes will now turn their sights to the National Senior Championships, billed to hold from July 31st to August 2nd.
