The 2013 Cross River/All Nigeria championships ended yesterday with
the Nigerian men’s 4x100m falling short of the required performance
that will launch them into the World Championships billed for August in
Moscow, Russia.
It was one of the last opportunities they had to make the difference as they chased the 39.00 seconds cut off mark. The team struggled to find their rhythm and coupled with strong winds blowing from the direction of the finish line, it was always going to be a herculean task for the team to rise to the occasion. They finished at 39. 61 seconds, a far cry from the 39. 16 seconds they did at the Warri Relays.
In the other closing events of the day, Blessing Okabgare completed a treble when she took the women long jump and 200m. Okagbare who is the world leader in the 200m, finished 22.61 seconds. She was followed by Miriam Bassey of Cross River State who clocked 23. 17 seconds while Ghana’s Janet Amposah was third with 23.79.
In the men’s 200m, Elvis Ukale ran 21.16 seconds to clinch his first championships title. He denied Noah Akwu the opportunity to complete a 400m and 200m double. Akwu finished 21. 34 seconds, while Tamunotonye Briggs was third with 21.34 seconds.
Okagbare, who earlier in the month jumped a wind assisted 7.14m, raked up 6.68m while junior athlete Ese Brume jumped 6.42 just as Doris Chinazom Amadi came third with 6.31m
“It has been an exciting trial and hopefully we should be able to present a good team for the world championships in August. Our major concern now is how to raise funds so that we can have a training camp to prepare, most especially our relay teams,” said AFN president, Solomon Ogba.
It was one of the last opportunities they had to make the difference as they chased the 39.00 seconds cut off mark. The team struggled to find their rhythm and coupled with strong winds blowing from the direction of the finish line, it was always going to be a herculean task for the team to rise to the occasion. They finished at 39. 61 seconds, a far cry from the 39. 16 seconds they did at the Warri Relays.
In the other closing events of the day, Blessing Okabgare completed a treble when she took the women long jump and 200m. Okagbare who is the world leader in the 200m, finished 22.61 seconds. She was followed by Miriam Bassey of Cross River State who clocked 23. 17 seconds while Ghana’s Janet Amposah was third with 23.79.
In the men’s 200m, Elvis Ukale ran 21.16 seconds to clinch his first championships title. He denied Noah Akwu the opportunity to complete a 400m and 200m double. Akwu finished 21. 34 seconds, while Tamunotonye Briggs was third with 21.34 seconds.
Okagbare, who earlier in the month jumped a wind assisted 7.14m, raked up 6.68m while junior athlete Ese Brume jumped 6.42 just as Doris Chinazom Amadi came third with 6.31m
“It has been an exciting trial and hopefully we should be able to present a good team for the world championships in August. Our major concern now is how to raise funds so that we can have a training camp to prepare, most especially our relay teams,” said AFN president, Solomon Ogba.
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