Team Nigeria’s World Athletics Championship Day 2 Review
Team Nigeria came close to winning a medal on Day 2 of the World Athletics Championships as Ese Brume placed 4th with a Season’s Best of 6.84m after seating in Bronze medal position until the last round of the competition, where she was overtaken by Romania’s Alina Rotaru Kottmann.
Brume has been one of Nigeria’s top performers in a decade, with four African titles, two GOLD medals from the Commonwealth Games, a Bronze from the Tokyo Olympics.
She also won a Bronze and a Silver medal from Doha 2019 & Oregon 2022, respectively.
Ezekiel Nathaniel (Men’s 400m Hurdles)
National Record Holder Ezekiel Nathaniel advanced to the semifinals of the men’s 400m hurdles after clocking a Season’s Best (SB) of 48.47s.
Joshua Abuaku of Germany won the heat in a Personal Best of 48.32s, followed closely by CJ Allen of USA (48.36ss) and Roshwan Clarke of Jamaica (48.39s).
Nathaniel was competing in his second race at Budapest 2023 in his primary event, the 400m hurdles, after taking part in the mixed 4x400m relay on Day 1.
Rosemary Chukwuma (Women’s 100m)
Nigerian sprinter Rosemary Chukwuma also advanced to the semifinals of the women’s 100m at the World Athletics Championship in Budapest as one of the next fastest qualifiers with a time of 11.24s.
The 2018 Commonwealth Games 4x100m Bronze medallist, who was seeded in Heat 4, will go through as one of the next fastest three times.
Competing in the fourth heat, women’s 200m defending Champion Shericka Jackson coasted to victory in 11.06s, with Michelle-Lee Ahye following in a Season’s Best (SB) of 11.16s. Germany’s Gina Lückenkemper was 3rd with a time of 11.21s.
Chukwuma will now hope to improve her performance and qualify for her first individual final event at the World Championship. Last year in Oregon, she made the semis in the women’s 200m and final in the women’s 4x100m where the team finished 4th.
The women’s 100m semi-final is slated for Monday night by 7:35pm (Nigerian time).
Men’s 100m
Seye Ogunlewe (10.12s) and Usheoritse Itsekiri (10.19s) were unable to make it past the semifinals of the men’s 100m as they placed 5th and 8th in their respective heats.
400m (Men and Women)
Nigerian athletes Dubem Nwachukwu (45.60s) and Imaobong Nse Uko (52.24s) ended their 400m campaigns in the heats as they both placed 6th in their respective heats.
Women’s Discus Throw
The trio of Chioma Onyekwere (58.58m), Ashley Anumba (57.77m) & Obiageri Amaechi (51.60m) were unable to make the finals of the women’s Discus Throw as they placed 21st, 25th and 37th respectively.
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