Nigeria’s Imaobong Nse Uko has qualified for the 400 M finals in the ongoing World Under 20 championship in Nairobi clocking 52:33.

Uko who’s the fastest under-18 female in the world with personal best of 51:70s was the first African female athlete to set a new record in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and now she’s the only Nigerian who have made it to the final that is scheduled on Saturday and she will run from lane six.

The trio of Godson Oghenebrume, Praise Ofokwu and Tima Godbless qualified for this evening’s semifinal in 100 finals.

Oghenebrume on his side ran 10.35 seconds to win his heat while his compatriot, Favour Ashe (11.00s) disappointed as he finished seventh to crash out of the blue ribband event. In the women’s race, both Ofoku and Godbless made it to the semifinal.

Ofoku ran 11.65 to win heat two of the first round while Godbless was second (11.59) in the third heat behind Namibia’s Beatrice Masilingi who ran a new 11.20 national record to win.

On the hand team Kenya was disqualified due to rule violation after a video review found that the first runner, Kimeu, had stepped outside his designated lane.

The Team includes Kennedy Kimeu, Sylvia Chelangat, Loice Moraa and Elkanah Kiprotich who finished in the second position in Heat 2.

However Chelangat finished in the second position with a spirited run to clock a new Personal Best time of 53.49.

Speaking after the race Chelangat said she was disappointed after they were disqualified but she had only one last chance since it was the only event left for her.

“I was really disappointed when I learnt that we were disqualified in the mixed relays and I was very discouraged. But I told myself that I will not let that get to me because I only had this one event remaining and I had to work hard to ensure that I remain in the Championships,” Chelagat said after the race.

Photo/Courtesy

India on it’s side shined in the Championships as the 4x400m Mixed Relay team set a new Championship record after sealing a direct berth in the final with a timing of 3:23.36s in the heat. The team of Abdul Razak Rasheed, Priya Mohan, Summy and Kapil won Heat 1 to qualify for the final, which will be held later on Wednesday, August 18.

Photo/Courtesy

The timing of 3:23.36s was the new U20 World Championships record until the Nigerian U20 team broke it in Heat 2 at the meet on Wednesday. The Nigerian team won Heat 2 with a timing of 3:21.66s. They also topped the overall qualifying charts.

It is the first time the 4x400m Mixed Relay is part of the U20 Athletics World Championships and India won Heat 1 to set a new meet record. They bettered the likes of the Czech Republic, Jamaica, Poland and Sri Lanka to top the opening heat.

India has sent a 27-member team for the U20 World Athletics Championships, which is being held from August 18 to 22. India have had champions at the meet in the last 2 editions as Neeraj Chopra won the javelin gold in 2016 while Hima Das won the 400m gold in 2018.