One of the biggest upsets of the ongoing 2024 Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) national trials for the Africa Games in Asaba was recorded in the women’s 400m final yesterday.
Before the final, all eyes were on veteran quartermiler, Patience Okon-George, who had dominated the home-based 400m women for more than a decade.
But the competition in Asaba, which the AFN organised in collaboration with Making of Champions (MoC), produced a shocker for the veteran, as up and coming 400m runner, Esther Elo Joseph, produced the most exciting race to take the race at the Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba.
The drama started when Joseph launched into a strong lead from the 200m bend, and at the home stretch, she maintained her pace and finished at 52.00seconds, a personal best.
Expectedly, the spectators rose to greet the new kid on the block.
Okon-George was a distant sixth, returning in a time of 56. 06 seconds, while Esther Okon came second with 52.93secs.
Uduak Udosoh took the third place in 54.59secs, with Oluwabunmi Israel taking the fourth position in a time of 54.61secs, with Odot Effiong in fifth position (54.79secs).
At the end of the race, Okon-George couldn’t believe what happened to her. “It’s one of my worst days on the track,” she stated.
On her part, Ether Joseph said: “It was a good race for me. I came well prepared and I am not surprised by my own performance. From here, I want to keep improving and my target is to run under 49 seconds within a short period. I am working hard to achieve that by God’s grace.”
The men’s race was equally thrilling, with Sikiru Adeyemi emphatically finishingin 46.26 seconds. It was no2024 Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN)t the kind of time he wanted as he has his sights on the African Games and the Olympics later in the year.
“I came here with the mindset of doing a sub-45 second, at least, but this is a good start for me and I’m going to keep on working to achieve my target.”
