Nigeria win gold, silver medals in African Championships relays

n n

Nigeria’s women’s relay quartet made history at the African Athletics Championships in Accra on Friday, breaking the championship record in the women’s 4x100m to successfully defend their title, while the men’s team claimed silver in a dramatic final dominated by Ivory Coast, Saturday PUNCH reports.

n

The women’s quartet of Rosemary Nwankwo, Jennifer Chukwuka Obi, Rosemary Chukwuma and Miracle Ezechukwu clocked 42.94 seconds to become the first team to go under 43 seconds in the history of the event at the African Championships, winning gold ahead of Liberia in second and Ghana in third.

n

The historic run also equalled the quartet’s season best and announced Nigeria as the undisputed force in African women’s sprinting, with the record-breaking performance capping a dominant relay display across the championships.

n

The men’s team of Favour Ashe, James Taiwo Emmanuel, Tejiri Godwin and Chidera Ezeakor clocked 38.70 seconds for silver, with Ezeakor anchoring a strong finish that overhauled Ghana on the line. However, both Nigeria and Ghana were beaten to gold by Ivory Coast, whose squad ran an impressive 38.52 seconds to take the title.

n

The relay victories added to what has been a strong overall showing for Nigeria at the University of Ghana Stadium, where the championships that started on May 12 will run till the 17th.

n

Ezeakor had set the tone earlier in the championships, claiming individual bronze in the men’s 100m with a time of 10.32 seconds, the same mark as South Africa’s silver medallist Bradley Nkoana, with the South African awarded the higher place. Cameroonian Emmanuel Eseme took gold in 10.26.

n

Chukwuma, who featured in the record-breaking women’s relay, also came agonisingly close to individual glory earlier in the week. She was denied gold in the women’s 100m after finishing in an identical time of 11.49 with Cameroon’s Hervérge Kole Etame, with Etame awarded the title on a countback. Liberia’s Thelma Davies took bronze in 11.51.

n

World record-holder Tobi Amusan further underlined Nigeria’s strength in depth by leading a clean sweep of the women’s 100m hurdles podium, reclaiming her continental title — her third at the African Championships — in 12.83 seconds ahead of compatriots Ashley Miller in 13.24 and Adaobi Tabugbo in 13.26.

n

Nigeria also won the mixed 4x400m relay through the quartet of Ezekiel Asuquo, Toheebat Jimoh, Victor Sampson and Patience Okon-George, who clocked 3:16.41 to hold off Botswana in 3:17.88 and Kenya in 3:17.94, rounding off a productive championships for the Green Eagles on the track.

n n