Amusan leads Nigeria’s World Athletics team to Ultimate Champs in Budapest
By Uzor Odigbo
Nigeria’s medal campaign at the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championships gets underway in Budapest, Hungary, Friday, with Tobi Amusan and Ella Onojuvwevwo among the country’s leading athletes in action on the opening night.
The championship will begin with the mixed 4x100m relay, which doubles as the first medal event, before Nigeria features in the women’s 100m hurdles and 400m.
Nigeria’s mixed 4x100m quartet will face Hungary, Spain, the Netherlands, Canada, Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Germany and the United States in the battle for the championship’s first medal.
Amusan is also listed among Nigeria’s mixed relay athletes.
The other members of the relay pool are Alaba Akintola, Favour Ashe, Miracle Ezechukwu, Udodi Onwuzurike and Rosemary Nwankwo.
However, Nigeria’s relay preparations have been hit by uncertainty, as Rosemary Nwankwo and Miracle Ezechukwu were denied visa.
In their absence, Tobi Amusan and Ella Onojuvwevwo will likely race alongside Favour Ashe and Kanyinsola Ajayi.
FIRST ZEALMEDIACAST BLOG gathered that the timing of the 4x100m mixed relay and the 400m women’s event may force Nigeria to pull out of the relay.
In the individual event, Amusan, the former world champion, headlines Nigeria’s opening-night charge in the 100m hurdles semi-finals, with a place in the final at stake.
Ella Onojuvwevwo will also begin her campaign in the women’s 400m semi-finals.
The women’s 100m hurdles final is scheduled for one hour and 16 minutes after the semi-finals, setting up a potentially busy night for the Nigerian contingent.
Beyond Friday’s action, Nigeria will have further medal hopes in the men’s sprints.
Kanyinsola Ajayi will compete in the second semi-final of the men’s 100m on Saturday, where he faces a formidable field including Olympic champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs, South Africa’s Akani Simbine, USA’s Kenneth Bednarek, Cameroon’s African champion Emmanuel Eseme and Ackeem Blake.
Ronal Longa of Colombia and American Ronnie Baker complete the line-up.
On Sunday, Onwuzurike will return to the track for the men’s 200m, where Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo and Bednarek are among the athletes standing between the Nigerian and a place in the final.
African record-holder Ezekiel Nathaniel will complete Nigeria’s individual campaign on the final day when he contests the men’s 400m hurdles.
With several of the country’s biggest names converging on Budapest, Nigeria will be hoping its star-studded squad can turn strong individual credentials into medals at the inaugural championships.
