Paris 2024: Nigeria’s 4x100m relay teams, Brume, others crash out
Team Nigeria’s struggles at the Paris Olympics have continued following the failure of the men’s and women’s 4x100m relay teams to qualify for the final.
In the men’s heat 1, the Nigerian quartet of Favour Ashe, Kanyinsola Ajayi, Alaba Akintola, and Usheoritse Itsekiri finished 7th with a Season’s Best of 38.20s, behind South Africa (37.94s) and the USA (37.47s).
In the women’s heat 2, the Nigerian team of Justina
Eyakpobeyan, Favour Ofili, Rosemary Chukwuma, and Tima Godbless finished 6th with a Season’s Best of 42.70s, missing out on both an automatic and fastest losers spot.
This marks the second consecutive Olympics where Nigeria will not feature in the women’s 4x100m final.
Medal hopefuls, Ese Brume, Ruth Usoro, and Prestina Ochonogor also failed to make a podium finish in the Long Jump finals yesterday.
Brume came fifth after jumping 6.70m, Usoro finished 10th after jumping 6.58m while Ochonogor was last with a jump of 6.24m.
In another event, Nigeria’s Edose Ibadin missed out on a semifinal spot in the men’s 800m, finishing 7th in his Repechage heat at 1:49.09.
Nigeria’s Folashade Rafiatu Lawal missed out on a podium finish in women’s 59 kg weightlifting, finishing 5th in the event with a total lift of 230 kg in the Snatch and Clean & Jerk.
Lawal came so close to getting a bronze medal but missed out on 3rd place by 5kg overall.
The Nigerian weightlifter gave it her all, smashing her personal best in the Clean and Jerk by 5 kg.
Similarly, Odunayo Adekuoroye lost 8-10 to China’s Hong Kexin in the women’s freestyle 57-kilogramme event of the 2024 Olympic Games wrestling competition.
Reports however suggest that she now hopes to fight for a bronze medal if the Chinese make it to the final for her to compete in the repechage.