The Nigerian women’s 4x400m relay team will not be participating at the Paris Olympic Games despite winning the gold medal at the 2024 African Athletics Championships in Douala.
The team comprising the quartet of Ella Onojuvwevwo, Patience Okon, Esther Elo Joseph, and Omolara Ogunmakinju had clocked a time of 3:27.31 to reclaim their championship title lost to South Africa two years ago in Mauritius.
Onojuvwevwo got underway with a blazing run where she got the baton safely to Okon-George in first place who capitalized on the lead despite the late charge of Qincy Malekani of Zambia in the home straight.
National Champion Joseph was ready for the task as she further distanced herself from her counterparts, leaving Ogunmankinju to race against the clock and stop the tape at 3:27.31s, earning Team Nigeria the victory.
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Despite their outright victory against fierce rivals Botswana and Zambia, they won’t be participating in Paris as they need to run faster than Cuba’s 3:26.08, currently occupying the last qualifying spot on the world list at 16th.
Nigeria is now out of two relay events at the Olympics, so will depend on the mixed 4x400m, women’s 4x100m, and men’s 4x400m to win a medal in Paris.
Olympic Games Paris 2024 is scheduled to take place from 26 July to 11 August 2024 in France, with Paris as the main host city and 16 other cities spread across Metropolitan France.
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