August 09, (THEWILL) – The Nigerian men’s 4x400m relay team has been disqualified from the Paris 2024 Olympics final. Officials ruled that the team stepped on the line during their heat, violating competition rules.
Emmanuel Ojeli, Ezekiel Nathanial, Dubem Amene, and Chidi Okezie had initially finished second in their heat with a time of 2:59.81s. This marked Nigeria’s first sub-3-minute performance in 24 years. However, the disqualification nullified this achievement.
South Africa will now take Nigeria’s place in the final. Botswana and Zambia remain the other African nations competing for medals in the event. The change alters the lineup of African representation in the final.
The disqualification is a major disappointment for the Nigerian team. They had aimed to match the success of previous Nigerian relay teams, which won gold in Sydney 2000 and bronze in Athens 2004.
This incident shows how small errors can have big impacts on Olympic competition.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
