Osheku Athletics star, Ramat Jimoh opens 2026 season with Nigerian lead in 800m
Abike Ramat Jimoh, the Osheku Athletics Club standout and Mississippi State University distance runner, opened her 2026 indoor campaign in style with a time of 2:07.63 over 800m at the Bob Pollock Invitational in Clemson, South Carolina on Saturday.
The 22-year-old’s performance places her at the top of the Nigerian indoor rankings this season, surpassing Britany Ogunmokun’s 2:08.23 run at the Armory Track and Field Center in New York on January 23.
Jimoh now sets her sights on building upon the remarkable progress she achieved in 2025, when she recorded several personal bests and established a Nigerian record in the mile short track with a time of 4:49.49.
Her steady rise has been marked by significant improvements in the 800m. Last year, she clocked 2:04.97 indoors, the second-fastest ever by a Nigerian woman and the best since fellow Osheku Athletics product Abike Funmilola Egbeniyi ran 2:03.65 in February 2019.
Outdoors, Jimoh broke new ground with a 2:03.45, the fifth fastest ever by a Nigerian woman.
With her sights firmly set on history, Jimoh is now chasing the elusive barrier of two minutes in the 800m, aiming to become the first Nigerian woman to achieve the milestone in the two-lap race.
