Nigeria missing as six African nations begin chase for 20th World Championships relay medals

The relay events will begin on Saturday, the penultimate day of the 20th World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, with five African nations viz Kenya, South Africa, Côte d’Ivoire, Zambia, Ghana and Botswana, expected to be in action across the final two days of the championships.

In the men’s 4x100m, Kenya, led by African record holder Ferdinand Omanyala, and South Africa, led by veteran Akani Simbine, will fight for places in the final.

Simbine, a silver medalist in the event at last year’s Olympics, will be confident of returning to the podium for a second consecutive global event.

South Africa previously won gold in this event 24 years ago in Edmonton, Canada, becoming the first and only African country to do so, just four years after Nigeria won silver to become the first African nation to medal in the event.

In the women’s 4x100m, Côte d’Ivoire, led by sprint finalist Marie-Josée Ta Lou Smith, will be the lone African representative. The Ivorians will be keen to make history as the first African country to win a medal in the event at the World Championships.

In the men’s 4x400m, Botswana will lead four African nations into the semifinal heats, mirroring the individual 400m event where four African athletes reached the final and two made it to the podium.

The other nations in the relay start list are South Africa, Kenya, and Zambia. All eyes will however be on Botswana, who had three men in the open 400m final and claimed gold and bronze.

At last year’s Olympics, Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo famously chased down USA’s anchor Rai Benjamin in the 4x400m final before settling for silver.

The Botswanan team is believed to be stronger now and could become the second African nation, after South Africa, to win relay gold in the history of the World Championships.

South Africa will be aiming for a hat-trick of medals in the men’s 4x400m, having won bronze in 1999 and silver in 2011.

Kenya will be chasing a second medal in the event, having won silver in 1993 to become the first African nation to medal in the men’s 4x400m at the World Championships. Nigeria followed with a bronze medal two years later at the 1995 edition in Gothenburg, Sweden.

In the women’s 4x400m, South Africa will be the sole African nation in action and will be seeking to become the first African country to win a medal in the event.

If successful, South Africa would have won medals in three relay disciplines at the World Championships.

Nigeria’s absence from all relay events has been confirmed to stem from a combination of qualification shortfalls and administrative failures, including missed opportunities at the World Athletics Relays and issues with athlete visa processing.