By BANNERNEWS Reporter
Nigeria’s women’s 4x400m relay team has qualified for the 2026 World Relays Championship scheduled for May in Botswana after an impressive outing at the MTN CHAMPS Athletics Classics in Calabar.
The qualification came at the end of the three-day athletics meet held from March 5 to 7 at the U.J. Esuene Stadium, Calabar, where secondary schools and elite teams from across southern Nigeria competed.
Nigeria’s female quartet, led by veteran athlete Patience Okon-George, delivered a commanding performance to beat Team Ethiopia, the only major African foreign team at the event.
The team, which also featured Anita Enaruna, Treasure Okereke and Jecinter Lawrence, clocked 3:31.14, moving up to 21st in the world rankings and displacing Mexico to secure their place at the World Relays.
Team Ethiopia finished second with a time of 3:38.31, while Team Nigeria B placed third in 3:40.50.
The championship, to be hosted in Botswana, will mark the first time the World Relays will take place on African soil.
The feat represents the second time a Nigerian relay team has qualified for the World Relays through an MTN CHAMPS event, following the mixed 4x100m team that achieved the same milestone at last year’s MTN CHAMPS Continental Relays in Lagos.
However, Nigeria’s men’s 4x400m relay team narrowly missed qualification after posting 3:04.59, just under two seconds outside the required 3:03 mark. Team Nigeria B finished second in 3:11.78, while Ethiopia placed third in 3:21.44.
Speaking after the race, Olympic athlete Nathaniel Samson said the team remained optimistic of achieving the qualifying time with more competitions and training.
He noted that the MTN CHAMPS competition serves as a vital grassroots platform for discovering and nurturing young talents capable of producing future stars such as Tobi Amusan and Nathaniel Ezekiel.
