The Nigerian men’s and women’s 4x100m relay teams both failed to qualify for the final at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest on Friday.
Though the men’s team of Favour Ashe, Usheoritse Itsekiri, Alaba Akintola, and Seye Ogunlewe raced to a Season’s Best (SB) time of 38.20 seconds, it wasn’t good enough as they finished fifth in their heat.
Team Nigeria needed to at least finish among the top three countries to secure automatic qualification for the final or hope to be among the top two fast losers.
Unfortunately, they were unable to pull through via the two available routes.
It wasn’t any better for the Nigerian women’s 4x100m team who did not even finish their own race as the baton never got past Justina Eyakpobeyan who ran the first leg.
While it was a disastrous night for Nigeria in the women’s race, it was a historic one for Ivory Coast which shattered the African Record set by Nigeria last year.