By CrossRiverWatch Admin
Team Nigeria made a strong start in the athletics competition at the African Games in Ghana.
All Nigerian athletes competing on Monday morning qualified for their respective events’ next stage.
In the women’s 100m heats, all three Nigerian runners advanced to the semi-finals.
Justina Eyakpobeyan led the pack at 11.43 seconds despite a slight headwind (-0.1 m/s).
Olajide Olayinka overcame a strong headwind (-2.4 m/s) to win her heat in 11.51 seconds, while Blessing Ogundiran secured the final qualifying spot in her heat with a time of 11.65 seconds (-2.3 m/s).
BluePrint reports that the men’s 100m heats were equally successful for Nigeria. Usheoritse Itsekiri ran a season-best time of 10.19 seconds (-1.0 m/s) to finish second in his heat.
Ekemini Ekanem overcame a slow start to surge past his competitors and win his heat in 10.44 seconds (-1.1 m/s).
Israel Okon Sunday finished second in his heat (10.55 seconds, -1.6 m/s) behind Benjamin Azamati of Ghana.
The semi-final races for the 100m are scheduled for Monday evening.
Following Nigeria’s dominant performances in wrestling and weightlifting at these Games, there’s high anticipation for a strong showing in track and field events, which kicked off on Monday on a bright note at the University of Legon.
While Team Nigeria hopes to see new champions emerge, several established athletes aim to defend their titles at the 2019 African Games in Rabat, Morocco.
These include Tobi Amusan, Ese Brume, Sade Olatoye, Chioma Onyekwere, and Chukwuebuka Enekwechi.
Meanwhile, Nigeria emerged champions at the maiden African Games Scrabble tournament in Ghana after finishing top in the women’s category.
Uganda claimed the ultimate prize in the men’s version with upsets against some of the continent’s powerhouses.
Scrabble is featuring at the Games for the first time but as one of the demonstration sports at Africa’s version of the Olympics.
The keenly contested mind game saw hundreds of Scrabble players showcase their word power in 27 rounds at the Alisa Hotel North Ridge in Accra, Ghana.
The encounters unpacked upsets and surprises as the eight English-speaking countries; Liberia, Zambia, Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, and Sierra Leone in the men’s category on Day One, battle to qualify for the knockout stage.
After thrilling games, Nigeria qualified to face Uganda while Kenya slugged it out against Liberia in the semi-finals.