Adeseye Ogunlewe is Nigeria’s fastest man again after winning the 100m men’s title at the 2016 All-Nigeria Championships which ended on a high note on Friday.
Ogunlewe, who won his first national title in Warri in 2015, clocked a lifetime best 10.12 secs to retain his crown and also book a slot to the Rio 2016 Olympics having surpassed the set standard.
Divine Oduduru took the second position and a spot to Rio 2016 Olympics in 10.25 secs while Ogho-Oghene Egwero finished third in 10.36 secs.
Speaking after his victory, Ogunlewe said he worked very hard to defend the title and would even work harder to make some impact in his debut appearance at the Olympics.
“I give thanks to God for making this possible, winning the 100m event again and qualifying for the Olympics is a dream come true,” said an elated Ogunlewe after the race.
Seye Ogunlewe later won the B Final of the men’s 200m event in a time of 21.28 secs.
Having finished second in the 100m event, Oduduru had a lot to cheer as he won the 200m men’s event with a time of 20.51 secs.
Okagbare completes sprint double
In another high point of the day, Blessing Okagbare also completed a sprint double.
Okagbare, who won her seventh 100m women’s title a day earlier, cruised to victory in the women 200m Final A in 22.78 secs.
Lawretta Ozoh won the women’s 200m Final B with a time of 23.71 secs.
Also on Friday, the Nigeria duo of Emmanuel Gyang and Deborah Pam both won the 10,000m in the men and women categories respectively.
Gyang finished first with a time of 31:31:58 while Solomon Yilbam finished second with a time of 32:05:19, with Sylvester Daylong of Nigeria Immigration finishing third with a time of 32:29:71.
In the women’s 10,000m run, Pam, of NSCDC, won the race with a time of 36:53:73. Olamide Oluwaseun came second in 37:25:17 while Aderonke Olumudi finished third.
Kunle Fasasi also became the new men’s 400m champions, dethroning Chidi Okezie with his winning time of 46.22 secs.
Theddus Okpara won the men’s high jump with a best jump of 2.10 metres ahead of Obiora Arinze, who cleared a height of 2.05m for the second position.
There was big upset in the men’s 400m hurdles event where Henry Okorie emerged champion.
Okorie clocked 50:12 secs to take the national title from defending champion Miles Ukaoma – who could only manage a third place finish.
In the women’s race, Amaka Ogoegbunam retained her national 400m hurdles title, running a time of 57:61 secs.
With the Nigerian Olympic trials over, attention will now be shifted to the Confederation of Africa Athletics (CAA) Grand Prix, the Warri Relays taking place at the Sapele Township Stadium on Saturday.
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Meet The Authors
Mr Eludini is a Lagos-based journalist and news researcher with a passion for athletics and football. Tunde is a former 234NEXT reporter and covers the sports beat for the Premium Times newspaper. He provides track and field content for AthleticsAfrica.
