Asuquo leads 400m charge at MTN CHAMPS finale

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The penultimate day of the MTN CHAMPS grand finale, held at the Lekan Salami Stadium on Thursday, delivered a series of thrilling performances, as multiple finals were decided and medals claimed across track and field events.

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In the senior men’s 400m, Team MTN’s Ezekiel Asuquo lived up to expectations, storming to victory in 46.60s. He finished ahead of Benin Republic’s Jules Waiga (47.23s), while Wisdom Alexander claimed third in 47.51s.

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His teammate, Miracle Uwem Donald, followed suit in the women’s event, producing a personal best of 54.07s to secure gold. Joy Ayomide (54.61s) and Adepoju Adedoyin (54.84s) completed the podium.

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The junior men’s 400m provided one of the closest races of the day, as David Dominion Udoh edged Ghana’s Kazali Iddrisu to retain the title for Nigeria. Udoh clocked a lifetime best of 46.62s, just ahead of Iddrisu’s 46.68s, while Tosin Esan finished third in 47.30s.

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In the junior women’s 400m, Treasure Okereke powered to gold in 53.30s, ahead of Becky Ebiyade (53.89s) and Faith Ezechukwu (54.04s).

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Attention also turned to the 200m heats and semi-finals, where Ghana’s Marizuk Shaibu emerged as the fastest qualifier in the senior men’s semi-finals, posting 21.05s, followed by Osama Chibueze (21.14s) and Enoch Adegoke (21.20s).

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Taofikat Sulaimon led the way in the senior women’s semi-finals, clocking 24.40s to narrowly edge Purpose Excellence Akinpelu (24.43s) and Ofure Johnbull (24.78s).

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In the junior men’s 200m, Kazali Iddrisu returned to the track to post the fastest semi-final time of 21.30s. He was followed by Liberty Okon (PB 21.51s) and Paul Otagba (PB 21.55s).

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Rosemary Nwankwo topped the junior women’s standings with 23.53s, narrowly ahead of Tejiri Ugoh (23.58s) and Mariam Jegede (23.74s).

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In the field events, African bronze medallist Samuel Kure impressed in the men’s javelin, throwing 79.39m—just shy of his personal best—to claim victory ahead of Prosper Eguakun and Oluwatobiloba Bamidele.

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Meanwhile, Gowon Oghenerunor secured gold in the junior men’s long jump with a best leap of 7.22m, while Olaoluwa Akindunbi and Mekioniso Messiah settled for silver and bronze, respectively.

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