There is cautious optimism as Team Nigeria gets set to commence the hunt for glory at the 9th edition of the 2023 World Athletics Championship starting today in Budapest, Hungary.
Interestingly, the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) had released a list of 26 athletes including the 26-year-old world champion Tobi Amusan who was facing doping charges.
Shortly before the news broke that the poster-girl of Nigerian athletics was cleared to compete in Budapest, Trust Sports spoke to AFN Technical Director, Samuel Onikeku, who explained that Amusan who was provisionally suspended, was already in the main entry list sent to World Athletics.
“We had sent Tobi Amusan’s name in our main entry list to World Athletics in case she is cleared by the Athletes Integrity Unit (AIU). Tobi is training for the World Championships, and we pray she gets the clearance to compete for ‘Team Nigeria,” he said.
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It was, therefore, a wild celebration in the camp of Team Nigeria when the hurdler was finally given the nod to go and defend her gold medal in Budapest.
Amusan, 26, made history in Oregon, USA last year with a remarkable performance. She set a new world record of 12.12secs in the semi-final and followed it up with a wind-assisted 12.06 (+2.5m/s) in the final to claim the gold. However, her career is currently facing challenges as she has been suspended for three whereabouts failures.
Despite being technically excluded from competing, her status as the world record holder and defending champion of the sprint barrier event has given her a lifeline.
The World Championships is the only competition Amusan hasn’t had the chance to defend yet. She has successfully defended her titles at the Nigeria Championships, African Championships, African Games, Commonwealth Games, and Diamond League.
The Olympic Games medal is also missing from her impressive collection, and many track & field enthusiasts were eagerly anticipating her performance at the Paris 2024 Games, considering her current exceptional form.
Now, she will be able to defend her title and also reduce the amount of pressure that would have been on long jumper Ese Brume, if she had failed to get the all clear.
Apart from the duo of Amusan and Brume, there is Imaobong Nse Uko who will be making her debut in the championship and will run in the women’s 400m event.
Others confirmed include; Rosemary Chukwuma (100m), Favour Ofili (200m), Seye Ogunlewe, Usheoritse Itsekiri and Favour Ashe (100m), Alaba Akintola (200m) and Ezekiel Nathaniel (400m hurdles).
Ruth Usoro was listed to join Brume as Nigeria’s second entrant in the women’s long jump event.
Chioma Onyekwere, Pamela Obiageri Amaechi and Ashley Anumba will compete in the Discus event while Oyesade Olatoye is the sole entrant in the hammer throw event.
Nicholas Fakorode and Kalington Anunagba replaced U.S based speed star, Udodi Onwuzurike and Godson Brume.
Brume had pulled out of the championships two days ago, citing health issues, while Onwuzurike failed to recover in time from the injury he sustained at the NCAA outdoor championships in the United States.
Although there are a few injury worries among athletes, officials said these could be managed following encouraging medical reports.
The full recovery of Athletes with mild injuries will be of great concern to the officials who are hoping for the best in Budapest.
Onikelu told Trust Sports that he is expecting Team Nigeria to do well and win medals just as he advised that less emphasis should be placed on Amusan.
“I expect we will do well in the throws, jumps and Relays. More final placing than last year and Medals but colours I don’t know,” he said.
In a chat with a member of the AFN board, Mr Dare Esan, the athletics expert said he is not expecting much from Team Nigeria. According to him, the team is not high on confidence and the current poor form of perennial podium finisher, Ese Brume, is a source of concern.
“Personally, I can’t think of them winning medals now. I am looking at where they are now and where the rest of the world is. Most of them are very young.
“Some of them were in form last season but are not currently in form now like Ofili but now she has gone pro and has a sponsor, she won’t be needing to go for different meets again and will have more rest. As soon as most of them leave the NCAA and become professionals like Tobi did, then we can expect a lot from them. The team is depleted now.
“With Tobi Amusan, we can think of a medal. Even at that, she may not be psychologically prepared. Before now, she was our best hope for a medal. And another girl that has been making us proud is Ese Brume but unfortunately, her performance this season has not been top-notch,” he stated.
Nigeria’s contingent to Budapest will be seeking to add to the one gold, five silver and five bronze medals won by their predecessors since 1983 with the outing at Oregon remaining the country’s best to date where Team Nigeria won a gold and silver medal.
The championship which starts today and ends on August 27th will see Team Nigeria participating in 14 events.
In all, over 2,000 athletes from more than 200 countries will compete in 49 events at the 36,000-seating capacity National Athletics Centre.
The events in track are 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 5000m, 10,000m, 100m hurdles, 110m hurdles, 400m hurdles, 3000m steeplechase, 4×100m relay, and 4×400m relay mixed.
The road events are marathon, 20 km walk and 35 km walk while the field events are high jump, pole vault, long jump, triple jump, shot put, discus throw, hammer throw, Javelin throw. The combined events are Heptathlon, Decathlon while there is also a World Team event.
