It was a beehive of activities on Day 2 of MTN CHAMPS Benin Athletics Classics, with multiple finals taking place at both the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium and UNIBEN Sports Complex respectively on Friday, March 14th.
Some of the finals concluded on Day 2 included the 100m and 400m finals across all four age categories, the men’s and women’s Long Jump, Junior and Senior categories of the High Jump and the 200m heats across all age categories.
Having dominated his 400m heat on Day 1, Gafar Badmus produced a scintillating Personal Best (PB) of 46.50s to dominate the Junior (U-20) category of the race, which had stiff competition. Eniola Shiro came 2nd in a new lifetime best of 47.18s while David Akhalu dipped ahead of Team MTN’s Ezekiel Asuquo in 47.40s to 47.46s, rounding up the podium.
Miracle Sonny lowered her PB from the previous day to win the women’s U-20 final in 53.91s, with Victoria Olaniyi who registered a 54.97s following in 2nd. Success Okoro was 3rd in 55.39s.
Team MTN’s Benjamin Magaji extended his lead from the Senior Men’s 400m heats to strike GOLD in the final, lowering his lifetime best from Day 1 to 48.04s. Bright Benson settled for Silver in 48.56s. Emmanuel Baraburu placed 3rd in 48.63s.
Team MTN’s Miracle Uwem recorded a 55.05s to finish 1st in the Senior women’s 400m, with Rita Munachiso and Rhoda Adisa following in 55.34s and 55.58s respectively.
Two-time Olympian, Emmanuel Ojeli ran a Nigerian outdoor Leading time of 20.96s to spearhead the charge in the Senior men’s 200m heats. Sophia Efetobore clocked a PB of 23.92s to become the fastest qualifier overall in the women’s 200m.
David Akhalu churned out a massive PB of 21.43s to lead his counterparts in the Junior Men’s 200m heats as Success Oyibu came close to a sub-24, running a PB of 24.03s in the women’s side of the junior category.
The Senior Men’s 100m final was a close race but Chidera Ezeakor snatched the crown in 10.60s over Jeremiah Nathaniel’s 10.63s, and Daje Lucky’s 10.66s.
In the Senior women’s category, Sophia Efetobore continued her fine form from the heats to emerge victorious in the women’s 100m with a time of 11.52s. Faith Osamuyi ran 11.62 to grab 2nd ahead of Odumosu Kate (11.71s).
John Caleb took the men’s U-20 title in 10.63s as Abdulrahman Jimoh and Wilfred Jimoh got 2nd and 3rd in 10.84s and 10.86s respectively.
In the Junior women’s race, it was a close blanket finish as Cynthia Chioma narrowly edged Success Oyibu to claim the women’s U-20 100m title in 11.84s. Oyibu returned a time of 11.86s while Mmesoma Thankgod Ezeobi settled for Bronze.
Elom Kosi dominated the Cadet (U14) Boys’ 100m with a time of 13.05s, finishing ahead of David Oliseluka and Nmor Santo.
Ebimoboere Christopher was moved to tears as she crossed the finish line in a joyful PB of 12.95s to claim the Cadet Girls 100m title. Ella Udumubrai and Oluwatimileyin Fatore settled for Silver and Bronze respectively.
Field Events
Ibukun Daramola won the Senior men’s Long Jump title with a distance of 7.66m. Martins Ugwu and Jeffrey Miracle followed through in 7.30m and 7.24m respectively. Gowon Oghenerunor took the Junior category in 7.20m over Anthony Lucky (7.02m) and Blessed Longlife (6.58m).
Mary Adeiran took the women’s Senior title in 5.97m. Otoaruoh Mary was 2nd in 5.27m while Glory Jarrett placed 3rd in 5.22m.
Francess Ajagbawa was the winner of the women’s U-20 High Jump, scaling a height of 1.65m. Ayuba Orahaci took the Silver medal in 1.62m while Juliana Temitope got the Bronze in 1.53m.
Emmanuella Kane landed a Personal Best of 40.31m, narrowly edging out Ruqqayah Kemi Mustapha to win the GOLD medal in the Senior Women’s Discus event. Mustapha had to settle for 2nd place in the event, throwing a Season’s Best (SB) of 40.30m.
