The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare has said the future of athletics in the country is bright following another impressive display by the country’s athletes both at home and abroad.
Johnson Nnamani, Egbuchilem Raphael Chimezie, Ezekiel Nathaniel, Favour Ofili, Rosemary Chukwuma, Alaba Akintola and Favour Ashe among others displayed standout performances at the recently held 3rd AFN All-Comers in Abuja and the Collegiate Circuit in the USA.
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Teenagers Nnamani and Egbuchilem both improved on their Personal Best at the Abuja Meet while Ezekiel broke Henry Amike’s 35-year-old 400m hurdles Nigeria record.
Ofili was simply unstoppable as she successfully completed a sprint double, running 10.93s in the 100m and 22.04s in the 200m.
Ashe and Akintola set new Personal Best times in the 100m, both running 10.04s while Chukwuma ran a wind-aided 10.88s to place third in the 100m before scorching to a wind-legal 22.33s finish in the half lap.
World U20 200m and 400m champions, Udodi Onwuzurike and Imaobong Nse Uko also set new lifetime best with the former running 20.09s in the half lap event while the latter raced to a new 51.24s best in the 400m.
“The performances by our athletes show the depth of talents we have in Nigeria. I am particularly pleased that the majority of the athletes left Nigeria between 2020 and 2021 and their incredible rise to world class standards is a testimony that we have the talents here,” said the Sports Minister.
Dare is particularly pleased with Ezekiel who ran 48.42s to break the 48.50s Henry Amike ran in Rome in 1987 to set a new Nigeria record.
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