Hammer thrower Oyesade Olatoye and the 4x400m mixed relay team will open Team Nigeria’s medal chase as the 18th World Athletics Championships begin today at the Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, USA.
Olatoye, drawn in group A of the qualifiers for the final will be making history as the first Nigerian to compete in the hammer throw event of the championships.
The 25-year-old won the hammer throw title at the African Athletics Championships to become the first Nigerian woman to emerge African champion in the history of the championships.
The Nigerian’s 65.74m personal season best will definitely not get her over the line and will need to throw a huge personal best of at least 73.50m which is the automatic qualification mark to be among the 12 best throwers from the two qualifying groups.
For the 4x400m team of Patience Okon-George, Imaobong Nse Uko, Sikiru Adeyemi, Dubem Amene, and Nathaniel Samson, the World Championships presents another big stage to make history as the first mixed relay team to make the final of a global event after debuting at the Tokyo Olympics last year, exiting in the first round
The Nigerian team that set a new 3:13.60 African in Tokyo last year, has been drawn in heat 1 of two first-round heats and will run from lane three, sandwiched between Poland, the reigning Olympic champion in lane two, and the USA, bronze medal winner in Tokyo in lane four.
Three teams will qualify automatically from the heat for the final while two others with the fastest losing times will join. The final will be held later this evening.
Later today, the heats for the men’s 100m will hold with Favour Ashe, the reigning fastest man scheduled to run. Also expected to be in the line-up will be reigning World U20 Champion, Udodi Onwuzurike.
The duo will be aiming to return Nigeria to the final of the blue riband event 15 years after Olusoji Fasuba ran in the final in Osaka, Japan.
The country will also be seeking a first-ever gold medal in the championships and will be relying on Brume, the only Nigerian still competing who has won medals at the World Indoor and outdoor championships and at the Olympics as well as sprint hurdler, Tobiloba Amusan.