AFN to pick athletes for World Indoor Championships today

The Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) will, today, decide the number of athletes and coaches that will fly the nation’s flag at the 20th World Indoor Championships in China.

The championships will begin on March 21, the same day the Super Eagles will confront the Amavubi of Rwanda in Kigali for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

The Guardian learnt yesterday that nine athletes have been penciled down for the trip to China.

“The board will hold a meeting tomorrow (today) to decide the actual number of athletes for the trip,” an official of the AFN told The Guardian in a telephone chat yesterday.

An official of the Elite Athletes and Podium board of the National Sports Commission (NSC) revealed last week that only six athletes would make the trip to the World Indoors in China.

The New NCAA high jump indoor champion, Temitope Adeshina, is reported to top AFN’s list of nine athletes for the World Indoor Championships.

Adeshina made history on Saturday in Virginia, USA, where he became the first Nigerian woman to claim the high jump gold at the NCAA Division 1 indoor track and field championships.

The 26-year-old will be looking forward to becoming the first Nigerian high jumper to make it to the podium in the history of the global event.

Also expected to be listed is another field eventer, rising star, Prestina Ochonogor, who will be competing in the long jump event.

The 18-year-old, who made it to the final of the Paris 2024 Olympics and the World U-20 Championships last year, will be hoping for another appearance in the final of another global event.

She was unable to ruffle any feathers at the NCAA indoor championships in Virginia on Friday but Prestina has proved to be a big occasion player.

For the men, Ezekiel Nathaniel will lead