As the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics draw nearer, we’ll be highlighting the seven Nigerian Athletes who have qualified for the leading international sporting showpiece, their form and prospects.
- Usheoritse Itsekiri
Winning his first senior national title at the 2018 National Sports Festival in the 100m, Itsekiri made great strides to compete in quite a number of series in Europe in one of which he clocked a then PB of 10.07s and thus qualified for the 2019 World Athletics Championship.
He later participated at the World Championships but didn’t make it to the semis after placing 7th in the heat.
He secured qualification to the forthcoming Tokyo Olympics when he raced 10.02s in the 100m final of the 2019 All-African Games in Rabat. He won bronze at the event with compatriot Ekevwo winning gold.
- Raymond Ekevwo
Representing Florida Gators as a freshman, Ekevwo clocked a scorching 10.02s to place 2nd at the 2019 SEC Outdoor Championships and secured himself an Olympics ticket.
Later in the year, he became the 100m African Games champion after he posted a lifetime best of 9.96s in the final – his time set a new African Games record.
He represented Nigeria at the 2019 World Athletics Championship in Doha which was his first senior international appearance for the country.
- Chukwuebuka Enekwechi
On what was his last outing in 2016, Enekwechi won his first national title at the Nigerian Championships in Sapele where he threw a distance of 19.60m in the men’s Shot Put.
His dream to compete at the 2016 Rio Olympics fell apart after his Season’s Best of 20.45m was just 5cm shy of the Olympics Shot Put qualifying standard.
The New York-born athlete waited until 2018 before he won his first international medal at the Commonwealth Games where he picked Silver after an impressive 21.14m throw.
Enekwechi then won the Shot Put title at the African Athletics Championships later in 2018, setting a new Championship Record (CR) of 21.08m.
In September, he was selected to represent Africa at the 2018 IAAF Continental Cup in Ostrava.
It was a double honour for Enekwechi at the 2018 National Sports Festival in Abuja as he won the Shot Put and Hammer Throw event.
At the 2019 All-African Games in Rabat, he set a new African Games record of 12.48s in the Shot Put to emerge winner.
- Divine Oduduru
Competing against world record holder Usain Bolt on his debut in Rio, Oduduru raced to a personal best of 20.34s to finish 2nd behind the Jamaican in the 200m quarterfinals.
Oduduru has significantly improved since then as he developed rapidly as a Texas Tech student athlete, setting new School Record Records and breaking Nigeria’s 200m National Record while yet studying.
He left the Red Raiders in 2019 to turn professional but before that he had won four NCAA titles in 100m and 200m events.
- Ese Brume
On the back of securing qualification to the 2016 Rio Olympics, Brume headed to Durban for the African Athletics Championships and she successfully defended her Long Jump title from the previous edition.
She then finished overall 5th in the Long Jump at the Olympics Games after leaping 6.81m in the final.
In 2018, she extended her Africa dominance to win her third consecutive senior title in front of a home crowd at the African Championships in Asaba.
Brume’s first 7-meter jump came in August 2019 at the Turkish Championships where she stormed to a new lifetime best of 7.05m – the mark moved her up to no. 2 on the African all-time list behind Chioma Ajunwa’s 7.12m.
Her first African Games title came just a month before she clinched bronze at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha – Nigeria’s only medal at the competition in six years.
- Tobi Amusan
Following an impressive showing at 2015 All-Africa Games, Amusan joined UTEP as a freshman, a year after she set an unratified World Junior Record of 12.83s to win women’s 100m Hurdles at the El Paso UTEP Invitational.
She went on to represent Nigeria at the Rio 2016 Olympics reaching the semifinals of the 100mH.
At the 2018 Commonwealth Games, all eyes were on the 2015 World Champion Danielle Williams to take home gold but Amusan astonishingly shocked her doubters as she conveniently beat Williams in the 100mH final.
She also went home with bronze from the 4x100m relay where she teamed up with Joy Udo-Gabriel, Blessing Okagbare and Rosemary Chukwuma.
Amusan narrowly missed a podium finish at the 2019 Doha World Championship, racing to a new lifetime best of 12.48s in both the qualifying round and the semis, but a 12.49s run in the final wasn’t enough to get her a top 3 finish.
- Blessing Okagbare
Making her debut at the Olympics Games at just 19 years of age, Okagbare will be competing at her fourth consecutive edition of Summer Olympics this year.
Competing in women’s Long Jump at Beijing 2008 – on what was her first senior international outing, she won Bronze in the event.
At London 2012, Okagbare didn’t have it as smooth as she anticipated, although she set a new 100m personal best and made to final of the event but finished 8th.
It was a dissatisfying outing at the Rio 2016 Olympics for her as she failed to make it to the final of 100m while the 4x100m relay, which she was also involved in, saw her finish 8th.
Okagbare has shown great promise of a better performance this year with her blazing start to the season as she did hit new lifetime bests in the 60m and 200m earlier this month.
Will this be the year Nigeria hits it big again at the world stage, especially in Track and Field events?
These seven are more than prepared for the big challenge. Speaking of preparation, you should be ready to take advantage of the huge odds that will be available in coming weeks for sport betting fans interested in betting on games at the Olympics. Don’t miss out!