Team Nigeria clings on to 100m hurdler and Women's 4x100 relay team at London athletics games

NIGERIA is pinning all her hopes of coming away with a medal at the ongoing International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) meeting in London on 100 metre hurdler Oluwatobiloba Amusan and the 4x400m women's relay team.

In what is now becoming a trend at global sports fiestas, Nigeria has not only failed to win a medal but has barely featured in most of the events. Five years ago, when London hosted the Olympics Games, Team Nigeria went home without any medal and at the moment, things are looking that bleak again.

Yesterday, three Nigerian athletes participating in the 400m women's race failed to qualify for the final of the event. Patience Okon-George finished seventh in her heat with a time of 52.60 seconds, Yinka Ajayi came sixth in 52.10 seconds and Margaret Bamgbose was eighth in her heat with a time of 52.23 seconds.

One sports analyst said: “We went to the World Championships with athletes running 51 and 52 seconds who are not ranked among the first 16 in the world, so, I wasn’t surprised that they didn’t get to the final. They were the best, the country could have featured judging by their performances."

He added that Amusan ranked among the best 10 athletes in the world and the 4x400m women, based on their individual timing were the major hope for winning a medal. Of all the Nigerian athletes in London, Amusan is the only one ranked among the best 10 in the world in her event, so she is seen as someone that can pull through and win a medal.

Other African countries including Kenya, South Africa, Ethiopia, Morocco, Ivory Coast and Tanzania have all got on the medals table, with the Kenyans sitting pretty in second place with three gold. Botswana too was favourite to pick up several medals too but its leading athlete Isaac Makwala was inexplicably withdrawn from the 400 and 200 metres races yesterday by the IAAF after vomiting.