OSBC Osun State Broadcasting Corporation
Five Nigerian female athletes have qualified to compete at the 19th edition of the World Athletics Championships next year August in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday PUNCH reports.
The five are sprinters are Favour Ofili, Grace Nwokocha and Rosemary Chukwuma; sprint hurdler Tobi Amusan and long jumper Ese Brume.
The five individual athletes secured their qualification at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham last August while Amusan automatically qualifies as the reigning World 100m hurdles champion albeit she could have made the cut either through the entry standard or the wild card her Diamond League victory conferred on her.
The Commonwealth Games period fell within the qualification window for the Championships.
Two of the five relay teams – the women’s 4x100m and the Mixed 4x400m also secured qualification to the championships, the flagship event of World Athletics.
The two relay teams are able to secure qualification following the cancellation of the 2023 World Relays in China due to the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Three other Nigerian athletes also qualified provisionally for the World Athletics Championships as area champions.
They are Oyesade Olatoye (Hammer Throw), Chioma Onyekwere (Discus) and Chukwuebuka Enekwechi (Shot Put).
The trio won their respective events at the 22nd African Athletics Championships in Mauritius last June.
