The Nigerian men’s 4x400m quartet of Dubem Nwachukwu, Dubem Amene, Sikiru Adeyemi and Chidi Okezie put up an absolutely stellar performance at the 2024 World Relays, clocking a time of 3:01.70 to secure qualification for the Olympic Games!
Drawn against sprint and relay powerhouses, Jamaica and Belgium, Nigeria needed a top 2 finish to qualify for the Olympics. The well-put-together team set off with Dubem Nwachukwu on lead-off leg where he came in 2nd and handed over to Dubem Amene.
Amene after breaking on the second leg, ran a masterful race, leaving no openings before handing over to Sikiru Adewale who ran his heart out, maintaining the pace.
By the time Okezie got the baton for the anchor leg, Nigeria was in 3rd and just in danger of having the automatic Olympic qualifier slip away.
He bided his time, waiting patiently behind Jamaican anchor Demish Gaye before pouncing as they hit the home straight, sprinting away to bring the country home in 2nd place, splitting an incredible 44.46s – his second 44s split of the night!
With their time of 3:01.70, they ran the fastest time by a Nigerian male 4x400m team since the Bronze-winning team of James Godday, Musa Audu, Saul Weigopwa and Enefiok Udo-Obong ran 3:00.90 at the Athens 2004 Olympics.
