Nigeria’s 4x400m mixed relay team clinch gold at World Athletics U-20 Championships

Nigeria’s 4x400m mixed relay team have won the gold medal at the ongoing World Athletics U-20 Championship taking place in Nairobi, Kenya.

The Nigerian team won the race in a new Championship record time of 3:19.70, beating Poland (3:19.80) and India (3:20.60).

Johnson Nnamani, Imaobong Nse Uko, Opeyemi Oke and Bamidele Ajayi are the quartet that represented Nigeria at the event.

They also made history as the first winners of the event at the World U20 Championship, as it was the maiden edition of the 4×400m mixed race at the competitions.

Read Also: Day 11 at Tokyo Olympics: Counting Team Nigeria’s blessings as medals trickle in

17-year-old Nse Uko has also qualified for the individual 400m final scheduled for Saturday and stands as the favorite to restore Nigeria as World U20 champions since Bisi Afolabi succeeded Fatimah Yusuf as queen of the quartermile in 1994 in Lisbon, Portugal.

Meanwhile the duo of Godson Oghenebrume and Praise Ofokwu qualified for the 100m men and women’s final scheduled for Thursday.

Oghenebrume ran 10.22 seconds to win his semifinal heat while Ofoku was also first in her semifinal heat, clocking 11.57.

In the men’s javelin throw, Team Nigeria’s Chinecherem Nnamdi threw a massive new personal best and a Nigeria U20 record of 78.03 to qualify for the final.

The 19-year-old 2019 African Games bronze medal winner added almost 5cm to his previous best of 73.24m to jump to the queue as one of the favourites for the gold medal.

Nigeria has not won a medal in that event at the World U20 Championship, and Chinecherem could make history when the final is held on Friday.

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