Nigeria’s Women’s 4x400m Relay Team Qualifies for World Relays in Botswana

Team Nigeria’s women’s 4x400m relay squad has officially secured its spot at the upcoming World Relays Championships, scheduled to take place in Botswana this May.

The qualification was the major highlight of the third and final day of the MTN CHAMPS Athletics Classics held in Calabar.

The Nigerian quartet anchored by three-time Olympian Patience Okon-George alongside young talents Anita Enaruna, Treasure Okereke, and Jecinter Lawrence delivered an impressive performance, clocking a solid time of 3:31.14.

The finishing time was enough to propel the team to 21st in the global rankings, successfully displacing Mexico to claim their ticket to the global event, which will be hosted on African soil for the first time in its history.

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During the race, Team Ethiopia finished a distant second with a time of 3:38.31, while Team Nigeria B placed third in 3:40.50.

This achievement marks the second time a Nigerian team has secured a World Relays qualification at an MTN CHAMPS event, following the mixed 4x100m quartet who achieved the same feat at the MTN CHAMPS Continental Relays in Lagos last year.

However, it was heartbreak for the men’s 4x400m team, who narrowly missed out on qualification. The quartet, comprising Emmanuel Ojeli, Gafar Badmus, Victor Sampson, and Samson Nathaniel, crossed the finish line in 3:04.59.

They fell agonizingly short, needing a time faster than 3:03.46 to secure a spot in Botswana. Team Nigeria B finished second in the men’s race (3:11.78), while Team Ethiopia took third (3:21.44).

Beyond the relays, the Calabar classics featured several standout individual performances. Team MTN’s Toheebat Jimoh completed a golden double, adding the women’s 200m crown to her 400m title with a Personal Best (PB) of 24.51s.

Miracle Uwem Donald and Odot Udo finished second and third, respectively. In the men’s 200m, Olaoluwa Obashola claimed victory in 21.74s despite a -2.0m/s headwind.

In the junior categories, N-Youth duo Miracle Ezechukwu and Rosemary Nwankwo dominated the women’s 200m, taking gold and silver, while Team Akwa Ibom’s Liberty Okon won the Junior Men’s 200m in 21.90s.

In the field events, Team Nigeria’s Samuel Kure threw an impressive 77.50m to win the men’s Javelin, while Clergy Edet claimed the women’s High Jump title with a new lifetime best clearance of 1.75m.