No Nigerian presence as Kipyegon, Moraa top list of Africans at Athlos event in New York

There will be no Nigerian… bonafide Nigerian women in sight come September 26 when the Athlos, a female-only track and field meeting holds at Icahn Stadium in New York City.

Certainly, one of the biggest paying one day meets in the world, the Athlos, named after the Greek word for athletics, is intended to highlight women’s track and field.

The events are 100m, 100m hurdles, 200m, 400m, 800m, and 1500m and it will feature a total of 36 athletes competing in these six events with Olympic 1500m champion, Faith Kipyegon and reigning World 800m champion, Mary Moraa leading a number of accomplished and aspiring African women athletes to the event.

In the 100m, Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith will be the only African in the line up while in the 200m, there is no place for Olympics finalist, Nigeria’s Favour Ofili who also seems to have shut down her season after the Games to take care of the trauma she must have felt for Nigerian officials’ disgusting error of not registering her for the 100m event.

In fact, there is no African listed to compete in an event Olympic champion, Gabby Thomas is tipped to run away with the $60,000.00 top prize money.

There will also be no Nigerian presence in the 100m hurdles as Tobi Amusan will also not be in the line up that has Olympic champion, Masai Russell confronting the woman she dethroned, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn while former World record holder, Kendra Harrison will is also in the line as well as two-time world champion, Danielle Williams of Jamaica.

In the 400m, there will be a ‘Nigerian’ presence as Nigeria-born Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain will be seeking, for the last time this year, to get her first win in eight head-to-head clashes with Olympic champion, Marileidy Paulino of Dominican Republic.

In the 800m, Moraa will lead the battle for the $60,000 top prize alongside two other Africans viz Halimah Nakaayi of Uganda, the 2019 world champion and Ethiopia’s Tsige Duguma, the reigning world indoor champion in the two full laps race and Paris 2024 Olympic silver medalist.

Kipyegon will be the woman to beat in the 1500m as the Kenyan leads a line that also has three other Africans viz the Ethiopian duo of Tsegay Gudaf, the 2022 5000m and 2023 10,000m champion and Welteji Dribe, silver medalist in the 1500m at World championships in Budapest and fourth at Paris 2024 Olympics as well as Susa Ejore-Sanders, the Kenyan who was sixth behind Kipyegon in Paris.

The meeting also provides the following prize money for competitors based on what place they finish in their event.

Place Prize Money
1 $60,000.00
2 $25,000.00

3 $10,000.00
4 $8,000.00

5 $5,000.00
6 $2,500.00