Godfred leaps to farthest jump in 12 years in Nigerian Championships history

Charles Godfred is the men’s long jump champion at the Nigeria Track and Field Championships in Benin city, the Edo state capital.

The 20 year old University of Minnesota freshman and reigning African U20 champion leapt a new 8.16m lifetime best to win his first Nigerian Championships title ahead of Goodness Iredia who also got a personal best of 8.03m and defending champion, Njokwu Emmanuel (8.00m).

This would be the first time in recent Championships history that the three medalists will hit the 8m mark.

Godfred, the pre-event Championships favourite came home with a lifetime best of 8.14m he set in Texas in April and proved his performance was not by happenstance.

His 8.16m is not just a lifetime best, and the third best jump by an African so far this year, it is also the longest jump by a Nigerian since 2012 when Stanley Gbagbeke jumped 8.20m to win at the U.J Esuene stadium in Calabar.

The mark is also the second longest winning mark in Championships’ history, at least since 1981 after Gbagbeke’s jump 12 years ago and the second longest by a Nigerian across all competitions since 2012.