Paris 2024: World athletics rules out Nigeria’s podium appearances in sprint events

• We’ll Prove Them Wrong, Athletes Vow

Team Nigeria athletes have vowed to prove World Athletics wrong in its assessment, which seems to have ruled Nigeria out of making the podium in the men and women’s 100, 200m, 400, and the 4x100m, 4x400m and the mixed 4x400m relay events.

The world governing body for the sport of track and field, according SportsNow.com, began its preview of the athletics events of the Paris 2024 Olympics, which will start in August.

But some of the athletes, who spoke with The Guardian from the Olympics Games Village on Friday, vowed to go all out to prove WA assessment wrong. “I am confident Nigeria will be in the podium here in Pairs. We have the athletes who can do it,” the athlete said.

In the men’s 100m, the Nigerian trio of Favour Ashe, Kanyinsola Ajayi and Godson Oghenebrume did not get any mention by World Athletics as the battle for the podium was limited to only a handful of athletes.

The athletes are led by the Jamaican newcomer, Kishane Thompson, who has world’s fastest time since 2022 at 9.77secs, the American, Noah Lyles, who is confident four Olympic titles which includes the 100m gold as well as the quartet of Kenny Bednarek (USA), Letsile Tebogo (Botswana) Akani Simbine (South Africa) and Kenyan, Ferdinand Omanyala, who is the second fastest man at 9.79secs going into the battle.

Ashe is the fastest Nigerian going into the competition with his 9.94secs performance but the 22-year old has only managed a 10.10 performance in the last two months .

Lyles and Tebogo also feature prominently in the 200m event.
Lyles tops the world list with the 19.53secs he ran at the USA trials and he is seeking for his first Olympic 200m gold after three world title wins. He is joined on the favorite list