Nigeria and African record holder in the Hammer throw (75.49m ) Annette Echikunwoke has been named among the 151 athletes that will represent the USA on home soil at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 on 15-24 July.
Echikunwoke who first switched allegiance to represent Nigeria in December 2020 won the Hammer throw at the Nigerian Championships in 2021 at the Sports Ground of Yaba College of Technology to seal her qualification for the Tokyo Olympics.
The 25 year old was however unable to compete after she failed to undergo three out-of -competition tests mandatory for Nigerian athletes at the Games and all World Athletics series after the classification of the country as a high risk doping nation in 2020.
The disappointed athlete must have made up her mind thereafter to switch allegiance to her country of birth and residence, USA and her desire was granted on June 21, 2022 in accordance with rule 1.4.2 of World Athletics Eligibility rule.
Echikunwoke holds a personal season’s best of 73.76m which she threw to place third at the USATF Outdoor Championships held at the Hayward Field, Eugene, Oregon last month and she has been selected as one of the four athletes that will represent Team USA in the women’s hammer throw at the World Championships.
The others are DeAnna Price who qualified via a wild card as the defending champion, Janee Kassanavoid and Brooke Andersen who both met the entry standard for the event.
This will be Echikunwooke’s first participation in a global event after missing the Olympics last year.
