As the first leg of the highly anticipated MTN CHAMPS came to a climax at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin on Saturday, October 14th, the six Most Valuable Performers (MVPs) across the two genders and three age categories (Cadet, Youth and Junior) were unveiled, along with the four Golden Performers, with all 10 athletes to be sponsored to the Grand Final slated to hold in Abuja on December 2, 2023.
These 10 athletes were selected from a mix of the best team and individual performers through their MVP points for their Schools/Teams across their respective events.
The MVPs from the Cadet (U-14) category were Adaeze Ezeh of Vision High who won the sprint double (100m & 200m) and Long Jump in the Girls’ event, as well as Michael Aniche who claimed GOLD in the Boys’ 400m and Long Jump events, including another GOLD in the mixed 4x400m.
Success Oyibo was a class apart from her competitors in the Youth (U-17) category, winning the Girls’ 100m and 200m titles. Anthony Lucky emerged Boys’ MVP in this category with his GOLD medal in the Long Jump.
In the Junior (U-20) category, Victoria Olaniyi took the Girls’ top spot after coasting to victory in the 100m and 200m, while Isaac Miracle Chukwuwike topped the Boys’ standings with his triumph in the 400m, 800m and mixed 4x400m.
The four Golden Performers were Showers Ushie, Isaac Egberebo and Jane Chioma Onyeneho who all finished within the Top 3 in the 100m and 200m, and Faith Osamuyi who claimed 100m Hurdles GOLD whilst also racing to Silver in the 100m.
For the team results, Vision High dominated the Girls’ Cadet category with 59 points to finish ahead of Baptist Vocational (49) and Team Anointed (20). In the Boys’ group, Baptist Vocational finished on top with 49 points, with Calvary Crown and Nicowa Secondary School following with 24 points and 20 points respectively.
Idia College won the Girls’ Youth team category with 59 points as Redeemer Academy (28 points) and Nicowa Secondary School (25 points) followed. The best Boys’ team in the Youth category was Benin Technical who claimed 44 points, while Baptist Vocational and Vision High placed 2nd and 3rd respectively with 38 points and 33 points.
UPDATED GOLDEN PERFORMANCE AND RANKING RULES
(1) To allow for seamless and transparent confirmation of all our Most Valuable Performers (MVPs) at each leg of MTN CHAMPS via the Roster Athletics App, the MVPs Rankings have been revamped from the sum of team competition points accumulated by each athlete, to their highest World Athletics score from their event performances at that leg of MTN CHAMPS instead. This change allows us to reward the MVPs not just for their placements in each of their events, but also for the quality of those placements.
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(2) In addition, the Golden Performance Rankings for Sprint & Hurdles events will remain as previously outlined in the MTN CHAMPS Rules & Regulations, with a slight alteration – while 10 Athletes from each MTN CHAMPS location (Benin, Uyo and Ibadan) will still be sponsored to the Grand Final in Abuja (the 6 MVPs plus 4 other top Golden Performers), the identity of the 4 Golden Performers in each city will now be determined via the male and female Golden Performance Rankings tables for Sprints & Hurdles via the Roster Athletics app as follows:
– The Top 2 Athletes in each of the male and female Golden Performance Rankings tables (that are not already amongst the 6 MVPs) will qualify to be sponsored to Abuja for the Grand Final, to make it at least 10 Athletes from each location to be sponsored to the Grand Final!
Official Requirements for Top 10 Athletes to be sponsored to Abuja – we require 3 documents from your parents and supporting information from your current or most recent school, as follows:
(1): Original birth certificate at least 5 years old (recently produced certificates not accepted).
(2) and (3): Official records, leaving certificates or exam results from the last 2 stages of education that you have completed (from SSCE, JSCE, Primary and Nursery School).
(4): Official school records/reports confirming your enrolment for each of the last 3 years (or your most recent 3 years in Secondary School).
If any Athlete doesn’t meet our eligibility requirements or declines to continue the process, the next Athlete on the rankings through which they qualified for the Abuja Final (their specific MVP Category or the overall Golden Performance Rankings as the case may be) will be extended the invitation instead.
