Team Nigeria lived up to pre-race billings as the 4x400m mixed relay team won the gold medal at the World U-20 Athletics Championship taking place in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital.
They set a new Championship record time of 3:19.70.
The quartet of Johnson Nnamani, Imaobong Nse Uko, Opeyemi Oke and Bamidele Ajayi also made history as the first winners of the event at the World U20 Championship, beating Poland (3:19.80) and India (3:20.60).
Team Nigeria made one change to the quartet that ran a then championship record of 3:21.66 in the semi-final, by bringing in Nse Uko, the fastest girl in the quarter-mile coming to the championship, and the 17-year-old didn’t disappoint as she handed over the baton to third-leg runner, Oke in the first position.
Nse Uko has also qualified for the individual 400m final scheduled for Saturday and stands as the favourite restore Nigeria as World U20 champions since Bisi Afolabi succeeded Fatimah Yusuf as queen of the quarter-mile in 1994 in Lisbon, Portugal.
Meanwhile, the duo of Godson Oghenebrume and Praise Ofokwu qualified for the 100m men and women’s final scheduled for Tuesday.
