World Championships: Nigerian Relay Teams Miss Qualification Again

World Championships: Nigerian Relay Teams Miss Qualification Again

Sampson Adedeji

Team Nigeria’s qualification woes deepened in Accra, Ghana, as both the men’s and women’s 4x400m relay squads failed to secure tickets for the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, BSNSports.com.ng reports.

Just 24 hours after the 4x100m teams fell short, the 4x400m athletes also missed out.

The men’s team returned a time of 3:05.22, outside the required 2:59.12, while the women’s squad clocked 3:33.83, far adrift of the standard.

Ghana finished behind Nigeria in the men’s race with 3:06.34, and in the women’s event with 3:46.63.

The setback leaves Nigeria’s relay hopes hanging by a thread, with the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) needing to find another qualifying meet before the August 24 deadline.

Should Nigeria fail to qualify, it would mark the first time since 1983 that the country has no relay team at the World Championships.

On Monday, Nigeria had clinched double gold in the 4x100m events but still fell short of the Tokyo standard.

The men edged Ghana 39.74s to 39.75s, with Burkina Faso third in 40.95s. Yet, their time was well off the 37.87 mark that secures the last qualifying spot, currently held by the Netherlands.

The women’s quartet also took gold in 44.92s, ahead of Burkina Faso (46.56s) and Ghana (46.63s), but could not better Côte d’Ivoire’s 42.63s the cut-off for Tokyo qualification.