Okowa Leads Team Nigeria To Belgrade For World Athletics Indoor Championships

Athletics Federation of Nigeria, AFN, President Tonobock Okowa will lead Team Nigeria’s contigent to this weekend’s World Athletics Indoor Championships holding in Belgrade, Serbia.

The team is expected to depart the Murtala Mohammed international airport, Lagos Wednesday night aboard Turkish Airline.

World and Olympic long jump medallist Ese Brume and the men’s 4x400m quartet of Sikiru Adewale Adeyemi, Samson Oghenewegba Samson, Timothy Emewoghene and Ifeanyi Emmanuel Ojeli will be in the flight to Belgrade via Istanbul, Turkey Wednesday night, while Ruth Usoro, the Nigeria triple jump record holder will fly from the United States of America to join the team for the championships.

Former Nigeria 400m hurdles champion, Victor Okorie, who is the Performance Director of the AFN, will also join the team from the USA.

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Former seven-time national 100m champion and now coach, Endurance Ojokolo and veteran coach, Serghe Porbeni are the two accompanying coaches to the World Athletics Indoor Championships.

Nigeria has won a total of 11 medals made up of two gold (Sunday Bada, 400m in 1997 and Olusoji Fasuba, 60m in 2008), six silver and three bronze medals.

Long jumper, Paul Emordi, won Nigeria’s first medal, a silver in the history of the championships at the inaugural edition held at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis, USA in 1987.

The late Sunday Bada remains the only Nigerian to have won multiple medals in the history of the World Athletics Indoor championships after winning silver medals in the 400m event in 1993 and 1995 before becoming the first Nigerian to be crowned World Indoor champion in 1997 in Paris, France.