Eight Nigerian Athletes Qualify As WA Launch ‘Road to Oregon’ Qualification Tracking Tool

As many as eight Nigerian athletes have sealed their passage to the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, USA this July after meeting World Athletics’ entry requirements.

The eight athletes, four men and four women include the two home based athletes who achieved historic feats on the track last season and two World U20 championships medal winners.

The athletes are Enoch Adegoke who made history as the first Nigerian man in 25 years to run in the finals of the 100m at the Olympics. His 9.98 run in the opening round of the event in Tokyo secured qualification for the 21 year old.

Grace Nwokocha who ran as far as the Tokyo Olympics 100 and 200m semifinals also secured qualifications in both events with her 11.00 seconds and 22.47 seconds performance respectively at the Games.

Others are Favour Ofili, the World U20 championships 200m bronze medal winner and Udodi Chudi Onwuzurike who won the World U20 200m title last August in Nairobi, Kenya.

Ofili’s 22.23 seconds bronze winning effort secured her passage while Onwuzurike’s gold-winning 20.21 seconds run was enough to book his passage to Oregon.

Tokyo Olympics long jump bronze medallist Ese Brume, sprinter Divine Oduduru and shot putter Chukwuebuka Enekwechi have also booked their passage.

Brume’s 6.97m jump which ensured her a place at the podium in Tokyo also ensured her passage to Oregon.

Oduduru may not be through yet to Oregon in the 100m but his 20.16 performance in Tokyo has booked his passage to Oregon in the 200m.

Enekwechi’s trip to Oregon was not confirmed in Tokyo but in Hungary where his 21.43m effort in the Shot Put met the entry standard for the event.

Sprint hurdler Tobi Amusan has been granted a wild card entry to the Championships following her historic 100m hurdles Diamond League win last year albeit the 24 year old has also met the 12.84 seconds entry standard several times since the qualification window opened in June 28, 2021.

Amusan’s wild card will give Nigeria the opportunity to field four athletes in the 100m hurdles if they all meet the entry standard.

In the relays, only the women’s 4x100m team has secured provisional qualification which is also subject to the doping case involving Blessing Okagbare.

Okagbare anchored the team to a 42.97 finish in Lagos on 19 June, 2021. The time has provisionally qualified the team to run in Oregon but if the 33 year old’s doping allegations are confirmed, the team will have to run fast elsewhere between bnow and June 26 to secure another qualification.

Meanwhile, World Athletics has launched ‘Road to Oregon’, an online tool to help athletes, fans and media track the qualification process for the World Athletics Championships Oregon22.

Searchable by event, country and qualification status, the tool provides a real-time view of each event over the course of the qualification period, which ends on 26 June 2022 (29 May 2022 for the marathon and 35km race walk). The World Championships will be held from 15-24 July 2022.

Athletes are able to qualify through one of four ways: by achieving an entry standard, by virtue of their placing at area championships or Platinum Label marathons (considered as having achieved the entry standard), by wild card entry or by world rankings position.