Umukoro, Godbless, Ajayi, Nathaniel, six other Nigerians punch World Indoor Championships tickets
As many as 10 Nigerian athletes led by sprinters Success Umukoro, Tima Godbless, Kanyinsola Ajayi and Nathaniel Ezekiel have qualified to represent Nigeria at the 19th World Indoor Championships scheduled to hold from 21-23 March 2025 at the newly built Nanjing’s Cube gymnasium in the Nanjing Youth Olympic Sports Park in Nanjing, China.
Umukoro and Godbless punched their automatic qualification ticket at the weekend in the American collegiate circuit.
Umukoro, the Texas Tech University student athlete ran .7.13 to set a new lifetime best at the Convention Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico last Saturday, the same day Godbless, the Louisiana State University student-athlete sped to a 7.14 lifetime best to also punch her first ever ticket to the Championships.
The duo will be looking to become the first Nigerian women to win medals in the event in the history of the Championships.
In the 60m hurdles, Adaobi Tabugo sealed confirmed her ticket to Nanjing at the end of last month when she raced to a new 8.06 seconds lifetime best at the Sports Performance Center in Lubbock, Texas.
Temitope Adeshina also sealed her place in Team Nigeria’s trip to Nanjing after clearing 1.93m towards the end of last month at the Sports Performance Center in Lubbock, Texas.
For the men, the trio of Ajayi, Consider Emmanuel and Caleb Joshua are technically through to the Championships albeit the automatic entry standard is 6.55. Out of the trio, only two will however be registered for the event to be part of the 56 athletes that will participate in the 60m event.
Ezekiel Nathaniel (45.56) and Edidiong Okon Udo (45.61) are also through via their position on the list of top performers this year with the duo looking to become the first set of Nigerians that will a medal in the event since 1997 when Sunday Bada (now late) won the gold in Paris, France.
Prosper Oghenemine Ekporere is also technically through, via the top list, to compete in his first World Indoor Championships in the 60m hurdles following his impressive 7.72 personal best run last Saturday which catapulted to third in the Nigerian all-time list.
Also among the 16 athletes that will compete in the Shot Put event in Nanjing is Chukwuebuka Enekwechi who was the first Nigerian to seal his spot in the Championships.
The 31-year old’s 21.29m effort at the Diamond League Final in Brussels, Belgium was good enough to help him book his ticket to his second straight World Indoor Championships and he will be looking to throw himself to the podium this time around after finishing sixth last year (21.60m) at the Glasgow Arena in Glasgow, Scotland.
Other Nigerian athletes seeking qualification to the competition still has until March 9, 2025 to do so.
