On Day 4 of the 21st edition of the National Sports Festival, Voice of Nigeria highlights some of the events that have taken place at the Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba, Delta State.
Athletes Chukwuebuka Enekwechi, Patience Okon-George, Oluwakemi Ladipo, Tima Godbless and others were all in action competing in different events, seeking Gold at the Delta 2022 National Sports Festival.
Women’s 400m Heat
Athlete Patience Okon-George (Cross River) underlined why she remains the favourite to win the women’s 400m title, running the fastest time so far in the first four heats, winning heat 2 with a time of 53.03s.
Deborah Oke won heat 1 in 54.17s, while Josephine Oloye won heat 3 in 54.06s.
Queen Usunobun (Delta State) posted the second fastest time overall in the Women’s 400m heats, clocking a time of 53.44s to easily win heat 7 and progress to the semifinals on Monday.
Okon-George is undoubtedly the favourite, but Usunobun will be hoping she could cause an upset.
Women’s High Jump
Athlete Ability Matthew from Akwa Ibom State showed great strength, jumping to multiple Personal Bests (PB) en route to winning Gold in the women’s High jump F42-47.
Matthew jumped a new PB of 1.41m, before exiting the competition after missing all three attempts at 1.44m.
Men’s 400m Heat
Nigerian athlete Victory Achakpoekiri (Delta State) was over the moon after going under 47s for the first time, winning Heat 10 of the Men’s 400m in a Personal Best (PB) of 46.97s.
While in heat 7, Sikiru Adeyemi (Oyo state) clocked 47.03s to win the Men’s 400m, and qualified for the next round.
Samson Nathaniel (won heat 4 in 46.63s) representing Delta State; Emmanuel Ojeli (won heat 5 in 47.26s) representing Rivers State & Japhet Samuel (won heat 6 in 47.52s) representing Rivers State.
All qualified for the men’s semifinals after winning their respective heats.
Women’s T53/T54 Wheelchair
Nigerian athlete Oluwakemi Ladipo (Bayelsa State) could not contain her joy, wheeling out hard to move up from second place, and clinching the Gold medal just before the finish line in the Women’s T53/T54 Wheelchair event.
Men’s Hammer Throw
Athlete Chukwuebuka Enekwechi, broke the Nigerian men’s Hammer Throw record, throwing a distance of 67.45m to clinch Gold for Delta state.
Enekwechi threw that mark on his 3rd attempt, beating Christian Okoye’s 36-year-old record of 66.92m.
Women’s 100m Heat
Athlete Tima Godbless, who recorded the fastest time overall in the Women’s 100m heats, qualified for the semi-finals in spectacular fashion.
Godbless clocked 11.31s to win heat 4, while Praise Oforku was 2nd fastest overall, winning heat 3 in 11.66s. Immaculate Daniels ran a PB of 11.85s to win heat 6.
Men’s 400m Hurdles
For the first time in his career, Prior Chibuzor Ochonogor (Edo state) went under 52s in the Men’s 400m Hurdles, running the fastest time overall.
Ochonogor clocked 51.61s to win heat 1, while Gbenga Bakare also qualified for the final, winning heat 2 in 52.44s.
Chidi Nwoke/Making of Champions.
