The Nigerian women’s 4x100m and mixed relay teams have qualified to compete at the 19th World Athletics Championships scheduled to hold in Budapest, Hungary in August 2023.
The two relay teams secured their spots in Budapest following the revision of the qualification system by World Athletics.
This revision came about following the postponement of the World Athletics Relays earlier scheduled to hold in Guangzhou, China in May 2023 to April 2025.
The decision to delay the World Athletics Relays impacts on the qualification system for the relay events at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
Prior to the revised qualification process, the first 12 teams from the 2023 World Relays would have qualified directly for the Budapest event while the remaining four places are filled by the best-ranked teams at the end of the qualification period.
The revised qualification system will now have the top eight teams from July’s World Athletics Championships in Oregon, USA and the top eight teams from the performance lists qualify for Budapest 2023.
The Nigerian 4x100m women relay team of Joy Chinenye Udo-Gabriel, Favour Ofili, Rosemary Chukwuma and Nzubechi Grace Nwokocha ran a then 42.22s African record to place fourth in the final while the men’s team was disqualified in the semifinal.
The Nigerian mixed relay quartet of Samson Nathaniel, Imaobong Nse Uko, Dubem Amene and Patience Okon George ran 3:16.21s to finish sixth in the final and will now be in Budapest next August.
The men’s 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams and the women’s 4x400m relay team will have to compete to be among the top eight teams from the performance lists to secure their passage to Budapest.