Hammer thrower, Olatoye, to open Nigeria’s bid for medals in Oregon

Hammer thrower, Oyesade Olatoye, will open Team Nigeria’s bid for podium appearances when the 18th World Athletics Championships begin today at the Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, USA.

Olatoye, drawn in group A of the qualifiers for the final, will be making history as the first Nigerian, man or woman to compete in the Hammer throw event in the championships.

Last month in Mauritius, the 25 year old won the Hammer throw title at the African Athletics Championships to become the first Nigerian woman to emerge African champion in the history of the championships.

Olatoye will however need a miracle to progress further in the event as she is lined up against athletes who have been throwing over 70m consistently including Janee’ Kassanavoid of the USA who is third on the world list so far this year with her 78.00m throw in May and Canada’s Camryn Rogers who is not far behind with the 77.67m personal best she incidentally threw at the Hayward Field last month. She is fourth in the top list for 2022.

Olatoye’s 65.74m personal season’s best will definitely not get her over the line and will need to throw a huge personal best of at least 73.50m which is the automatic qualification mark or be among the 12 best throwers from the two qualifying groups.