Nigeria suffered another frustrating setback at the 2026 World Athletics U-20 Championships in Oregon, United States, after the country’s mixed 4x100m relay team was disqualified, sportsbeat.ng reports.
The team initially set an African and Nigerian U-20 record early Sunday morning in Eugene, Oregon.
The quartet of Tejiri Godwin, Chigozie Rosemary Nwankwo, Perfect Faye and Miracle Ezechukwu crossed the line fourth in 41.77 seconds, a performance that initially went into the record books as a new African and national U-20 record.
However, the celebrations were short-lived after officials disqualified the Nigerian team for an equipment violation.
Perfect Faye was reportedly wearing spikes that were not included on the World Athletics approved list, resulting in the disqualification and wiping out the team’s record-setting performance.
It was the second equipment-related disqualification suffered by Team Nigeria at the championships, adding to what has been a difficult campaign for the country.
Nigeria Produce Dramatic 4x100m Qualification
Despite the setback, Nigeria responded strongly in the women’s 4x100m relay, producing one of the most dramatic finishes of the championships to book a place in the final.
Lucy Nwankwo, Chigozie Rosemary Nwankwo, Tejiri Ugoh and Miracle Ezechukwu appeared to be outside the automatic qualification positions before Ezechukwu delivered a sensational anchor leg.
Ezechukwu reportedly clocked a remarkable 9.81-second split to move Nigeria from fourth to third, securing automatic qualification for the final in 43.65 seconds.
Women’s 4x400m Team Also Through
Nigeria also advanced to the women’s 4x400m final after Becky Ebiyadi, Jecinta Lawrence, Tejiri Ugoh and Faith Ezechukwu finished third in their heat in 3:35.28.
The Nigerian quartet finished behind Italy and Great Britain but did enough to progress to the final.
Meanwhile, Success Oyibu ended her impressive individual campaign with fifth place in the women’s 200m final.
Oyibu clocked 23.27 seconds after winning her opening-round heat and semi-final.
USA’s Mia Maxwell won gold in 22.37 seconds to complete a 100m and 200m double, while Jamaica’s Shaniya Douglas claimed silver in 22.68 seconds.
