Nigeria’s relay team drops baton, may fancy Warri relay meet for Budapest 4×100m ticket
By Uzor Odigbo
For the third straight attempt the Nigerian men’s 4x100m relay team failed to qualify for next month’s World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary after the quartet of Favour Ashe, Oyinkansola Ajayi, Alaba Akintola and Godson Oghenebrume dropped the baton at the Republic of Benin championships on Saturday in Cotonou.
Ashe ran the first leg and successfully handed over the baton to Kayinsola Ajayi who was drafted from the B team in place of Emmanuel Ekanem Consider who ran in the semifinal.
It was at the second exchange between Ajayi and Akintola that the team dropped the baton.
The team had earlier ran 38.8 in the semifinals and was looking to make amends in the final where the target was to, at least, run faster than the 38.50 Australia ran to sit in the 16th (final) qualifying spot.
Without known meet in the countries bordering Nigeria, the Athletics Federation of Nigeria may be looking to resurrect, as it were, the 7th ACAN that was initially scheduled to hold on Friday July 21, 2023 at the Gateway International Stadium in Sagamu, Ogun state or the Warri Relays and Grand Prix which should have held during the outgoing week at the Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba, the Delta state capital