The penultimate day of the MTN CHAMPS grand finale at the Lekan Salami Stadium on Thursday produced a string of standout performances, with several finals decided and medals claimed across track and field events.
In the senior men’s 400m, Team MTN’s Ezekiel Asuquo delivered a commanding run to claim gold in 46.60 seconds. He finished ahead of Benin Republic’s Jules Waiga, who posted 47.23s, while Wisdom Alexander took third place in 47.51s.
His teammate, Miracle Uwem Donald, also impressed in the women’s race, clocking a personal best of 54.07s to secure victory. Joy Ayomide (54.61s) and Adepoju Adedoyin (54.84s) completed the podium.
The junior men’s 400m produced one of the most closely contested races of the day, with David Dominion Udoh edging Ghana’s Kazali Iddrisu to retain his title for Nigeria. Udoh set a lifetime best of 46.62s, narrowly beating Iddrisu’s 46.68s, while Tosin Esan placed third in 47.30s.
In the junior women’s 400m, Treasure Okereke surged to gold in 53.30s, finishing ahead of Becky Ebiyade (53.89s) and Faith Ezechukwu (54.04s).
Focus later shifted to the 200m heats and semi-finals. Ghana’s Marizuk Shaibu emerged as the fastest qualifier in the senior men’s category with a time of 21.05s, followed by Osama Chibueze (21.14s) and Enoch Adegoke (21.20s).
Taofikat Sulaimon led the qualifiers in the senior women’s semi-finals, clocking 24.40s to narrowly edge Purpose Excellence Akinpelu (24.43s) and Ofure Johnbull (24.78s).
In the junior men’s 200m, Kazali Iddrisu returned strongly to post the fastest semi-final time of 21.30s. He was followed by Liberty Okon, who set a personal best of 21.51s, and Paul Otagba, also with a personal best of 21.55s.
Rosemary Nwankwo topped the junior women’s standings with 23.53s, just ahead of Tejiri Ugoh (23.58s) and Mariam Jegede (23.74s).
In the field events, African bronze medallist Samuel Kure delivered an impressive performance in the men’s javelin, throwing 79.39m—just short of his personal best—to claim victory ahead of Prosper Eguakun and Oluwatobiloba Bamidele.
Meanwhile, Gowon Oghenerunor secured gold in the junior men’s long jump with a leap of 7.22m, while Olaoluwa Akindunbi and Mekioniso Messiah settled for silver and bronze, respectively.
