The race to discover Nigeria’s greatest athletes intensified as Season 3 of the MTN Champs Lagos continental relays progressed into its second day. In the youth categories, athletes delivered outstanding performances across different sporting events, with some medals already being awarded.
In the 100m women junior final, Lucy Nwankwo sprinted to gold with a personal best (PB) of 11.99 seconds. She was followed by Mercy Ogbonna, who claimed silver with a PB of 12.16s, and Azeezat Muhammed-Raji, who secured bronze at 12.18s.
The women’s senior 100m final proved even more remarkable as Iyanuoluwa Bada of Team NSDC clocked a new PB of 11.30s to win gold, marking her third consecutive PB at the event. Bada had earlier posted 11.48s in the preliminaries and 11.38s in the semifinals. “I’m happy to be here because there’s a competition for us to showcase ourselves, outside of constant training,” Bada said after her win.
Other notable finishes in the women’s U20 category include Flore-Julie Krakere with 11.86s and Janet Adesiyan with 11.90s.
In the men’s 100m senior final, all eyes were on Olympic sprinter Favor “The Nigerian Nightmare” Ashe, who made his debut appearance at MTN Champs. Ashe didn’t disappoint, storming to victory with a PB of 10.28s. In 2024, Ashe became the first Nigerian man to run five sub-10s, over 100m five times.
After his race, Ashe said: “I thank my mum, my dad and my coaches. Being a champion means consistency, showing up and competing to win every time.”
Also, in the 10om men’s senior category, Chidera Ezeakor posted a PB of 10.38, and Thankgod Chinemerem Igube posted 10.49.
In field events, Victoria Ejembi of Arena Academy earned silver in the women’s long jump. The high jump saw a breakout performance from Isaac Atidade, a UNILAG student and first-time competitor, who secured gold while representing Team Eagle Sight.
Ayham Moussa, Chief Operating Officer (COO), MTN Nigeria has reiterated MTN’s involvement in sports development: “At MTN, we are heavily invested in football and athletics because we believe in the power of sports as a catalyst for development.”
Launched in 2023 to discover and develop young athletic talent across Nigeria, MTN Champs is a movement building future olympians for Nigeria. Designed to discover local athletic talent search across Nigeria, it is developing athletes to deliver global medals and become sporting legends for Nigeria.
Season 3 of the MTN Champs Continental Relays continues across the YabaTech and UNILAG sports complexes, from April 9 to April 12, with the grand finale set to happen at Yabatech on April 12.