July 29, (THEWILL) – After the heavy blow of bans hit Team Nigeria from a report of the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), which affected 10 athletes of the contingent representing Nigeria at the Summer Games in Tokyo, Japan, the AIU has cleared 12 Nigerian athletes and once again rendered them eligible to feature.
As THEWILL reported on Wednesday, AIU dropped the hammer on a total of 20 athletes from seven nations deemed most at-risk when it comes to doping because these athletes were deemed not to have been tested rigorously enough in the run-up to Tokyo 2020.
The elongation of 10 athletes from the track and field events for Team Nigeria represented more than 40 per cent of the competing field that the country entered for the Olympics and who were prepared for their opening races on Friday.
Fortunately for Team Nigeria, Africa’s Queen of the Tracks, Blessing Okagbare, headlined the names of the eligible athletes that were cleared to enter their competitions. The others are long jumper Ese Brume, 100m hurdler Tobi Amusan, sprinter Divine Oduduru and 200m athlete Nwokocha Grace.
The rest include 400m runner Patience Okon George, other 100m sprint athletes Enoch Adegoke and Itsekiri Usheoritee, 4×400 relay runners Imaobong Nse Uko and Samson Nathaniel, shot-put thrower Enekwechi Chukwuebuka, and 400m runner Emmanuel Ojeli.
The clearance gives Nigeria’s reigning sprint amazon, the 100m and 200m record holder, Okagbare the chance to blaze her way to a podium finish and it was a relief to see her topping the list of 12 athletes who will now enter their events to compete with others for personal and national glory starting from Friday in Tokyo.
In her fifth Olympics so far, Okagbare will commence her run for glory at the games with the women’s 100m heat and carry Nigeria’s medal hunt forward from there. Behind her, Amusan, ranked number fourth in the 100m hurdles, Brume, who topped the world list in her event coming to the games will do the same.
It will not be different for Nwokocha. The home-based sensation clocked 11.09 seconds in March at the MOC Grand Prix in Lagos to seal her qualification for the Tokyo Games and remains another strong medal hopeful for the country at the Summer Olympics.
Meanwhile, Oduduru, Adegoke and Itshekiri take to the men’s 100m with Oduduru set to also race in the 200m. As national record of 19.73 seconds in the 200m, Oduduru knows he bears the same weight of responsibility to reach for the best that is on Okagbare’s shoulder with all the promise he has demonstrated heading into Tokyo.
Oduduru will be aiming to better that record he set two years ago in Austin, Texas in the USA where he ran against a challenging set to win the NCAA gold and set on course for an Olympic berth, which he finally acquired in he qualifying series.
Enekwechi’s qualifying for the shot-put event was punched in after the Nigerian professional thrower made it to the shot-put event’s final at the World Athletics Championship in Doha, Qatar in 2019. AIU’s clearance gives the athlete every chance to challenge for best.
It was for the best that the entire unit of Team Nigeria’s 4x400m mixed relay quartet of Imaobong Nse Uko, Patience Okon-George, Nataniel Samson and Ifeanyi Ojeli were all eligible to compete. Their action will take off with the first semi-final heat on Friday as well.
About the Author
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.
