Ochonogor is biggest Nigerian mover in World Athletics rankings in 2024

From her ranking as the 66th best in Nigeria and 7,323 best in the overall women rankings in January 2024, long jumper, Prestina Ochonogor has, within 10 months, moved to number five in Nigeria and 611 in the world.

This geometrical rise in ranking has made Ochonogor the biggest Nigerian mover in the weekly World Athletics Rankings.

Ochonogor’s leap to national reckoning started in April 2023 at the African U18 Championships in Ndola, Zambia where her 6.00m leap was not only good enough to fetch her a silver medal but was actually a lifetime best.

Exactly a year later, the 18 year old has joined the list of athletes who have hit the 6.70m mark.

To prove her performance in Calabar where she jumped 6.79m was not influenced by anything, the tall and pretty Ochonogor went to the biggest athletics stage on earth and leapt into the final of the long jump event in her first attempt!

Ochonogor is not the only Nigerian female athlete who had this big move within a space of 10 months.

Enter quartermiler, Esther Elo Joseph who also raced into national reckoning in 2024, breaking 52 seconds six times this, was a 53.3 runner just a year ago.

Joseph has moved from being ranked 26th best in Nigeria and 3,560 in the world in January 2024 to sixth in Nigeria and 618 in the world in the women’s overall rankings.

In the 400m, she moved from 279th in the world in January to 35th in the world… and of course number one in Nigeria ahead of Ella Onojuvwevwo.

Tobi Amusan still leads the women’s overall ranking in Nigeria with Favour Ofili replacing Ese Brume who has dropped down to the third from the second she was in January