By Uzor Odigbo
Nigeria’s U-20 World Junior Athletics team are ready to restore the country’s pride and image when the World’s Youth Athletes gather for hostilities in Lima, Peru August 28, 2024.
Leader of delegation and Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) Performance Director Victor Okorie said this much during a chat.
According to him, Team Nigeria to World Junior Athletics Championships are tested and and will prove they are ready to compete with the rest of of the world in Lima, Peru.
“We have young athletes with pedigree that can stand the test of time. I project medals to come in long jump, 400m, 4×400m relay. We are confident in Athletes abilities to finish well on the podium.”
Nigeria will feature 15 Athletes and 14 events namely 100/200m, long jump, 400m etc..at the championship as some of them competed at the at the just concluded Paris Olympics Games.
The ex-international and AFN board member from the South East zone noted with regrets the few Athletes Nigeria entered in the championship, adding that they would have been more considering the Federation’s quest for youth athletics development.
“I wish Nigeria had added more youth Athletes to the team. This is the competition Nigeria Youth Athletes had done supremely well in the past, talk about Deji Aliyu, Seun Ogunkoya, Francis Obikwelu, Gloria Alozie etc. they started their international career on high at various world Junior Championships.
The one in 2022 in Kenya where some of our Athletes excelled was a pleasurable case in point, Okorie said.
Interestingly, the former hurdler, said young Peru bound athletes are in high Spirit and ready to compete fairly.
Meanwhile, World Athletics lists 400m Ella Onojuvwevwo among favourites for World U20 400m gold in Lima
She become the fifth Nigerian teenager to win the women’s 400m event at the World U20 Athletics Championships? World Athletics believes the 19-year-old can be one.
The world body for the sport rates the Nigerian among the favourites for the gold medal in its preview of the event.
Onojuvwevwo is the second fastest teenager among the athletes that will file out for the opening round heats of the event at the Estadio Atlético de la VIDENA in Lima.
Only Czech Republic’s Lurdes Gloria Manuel has ran faster this year (50.52) than the Nigerian with USA’s Michaela Mouton (50.96) completing the list of just three athletes who have broken 51 seconds this year.
Interestingly, both Manuel and Onojuvwevwo did not only make it to the semifinals of the event at the Paris 2024 Olympics, but they also actually ran in the same semifinal heat where the Nigerian came sixth (51.05) while the Czech girl was eighth (51.42).
There is also another American, Zaya Akins with a personal best of 51.33 and is the final competitor in the field to have broken 52 seconds.
Akins has also met the Nigerian once and lost. Both met at the Tom Jones Memorial in April with Onojuvwewvwo coming second (51.32) while Akins was fourth (52.14).
It is looking like a two-battle between Manuel and Onojuvwevwo for the gold and if the latter wins, she will become the fifth Nigerian after Fatimah Yusuf (1990), Olabisi Afolabi (1994), Folashade Abugan (2008) and Imaobong Nse Uko (2021) to win the title.
Onojuvwevwo will also want to win as the fastest Nigerian in the history of the Championships.
