World U-20 Athletics Championships : Nigeria’s Women 4x100m relay team storms into final with Season-Best

By Maxwell Kumoye

Nigeria’s women’s 4x100m relay team secured a place in the final of the event at the World Athletics U-20 Championships in Oregon, USA, after clocking a season-best 43.65 seconds in the qualifying heats on Saturday.

The quartet of Lucy Chiamaka Nwankwo, Chigozie Rosemary Nwankwo, Tejiri Praise Ugoh and Oluebube Ezechukwu finished third in Heat 3, behind Australia and Jamaica, but their time was enough to earn an automatic qualification for the final.

Australia won the heat in a championship record for the category, clocking 43.44 seconds, while Jamaica finished second in 43.61 seconds.

Nigeria’s performance also saw the team finish ahead of the United States, who posted 43.67 seconds.

Lucy Nwankwo led off for Nigeria in 11.74 seconds before Chigozie Nwankwo ran the second leg in 10.96 seconds.

Ugoh covered the third leg in 11.14 seconds, while Ezechukwu produced the fastest split of the Nigerian quartet, completing the anchor leg in an impressive 9.81 seconds.

The Nigerian team’s 43.65 seconds was also recorded as a season best, underlining their strong showing in a tightly contested heat.

Nigeria will return to the track for the final with hopes of challenging for a podium finish.