Day 2 of MTN CHAMPS Ibadan witnessed a thrilling display of athletic prowess at both Lekan Salami Stadium and the University of Ibadan Sports Complex on Saturday.
Tokyo 2020 finalist Enoch Adegoke, an MTN CHAMPS Ambassador for the second year running, stole the show in the men’s 100m.
He dominated the race with a Season’s Best (SB) of 10.20s, his fastest time in nearly three years.
This victory serves as a significant boost for the sprinter who has battled injuries since the Tokyo Olympics where he became the first Nigerian to make it to the 100 final in 25 years.
Gradually getting back into his strides, Adegoke’s sights are firmly set on peak form for the upcoming Paris Olympics.
Flury of Personal Bests
Adegoke’s triumph sparked a flurry of personal bests. Adekalu Fakorede, a member of Nigeria’s gold-medal winning 4x100m team at the African Games, finished a close second with an equally impressive Personal Best (PB) of 10.23s.
Following them was Olaolu Olatunde, who shattered his previous best with a new PB of 10.47s for third place. Olatunde’s remarkable improvement comes after surgery last year and a significant period away from the track.
He progressively lowered his time throughout the competition, starting with a 10.62s in the heats and shaving off another 0.02s in the semis.
Women’s 100m and Long Jump
Arena Academy’s Janet Adeshina reigned supreme in the women’s 100m, crossing the finish line in 11.94s.
Following close behind were African Games Long Jump Bronze medalist Prestina Ochonogor (11.97s) and Taiwo Aremu of Jaf Athletics (12.07s) in second and third place, respectively.
Ochonogor further solidified her presence by claiming victory in the women’s Long Jump with a leap of 6.20m.
Other events
The day witnessed a wave of victories across other events.
John Caleb, Ibrahim Ajibare, and Ibukun Daramola dominated the Junior Boys (U20) 100m, while Stella Oyebode, Mariam Jegede, and Tumininu Sanyaolu triumphed in the Girls’ category, respectively.
Sewekan Thovoetin of Osheku Striders emerged victorious in a hard-fought men’s 400m race with a time of 47.53s. Ajayi Kehinde (47.65s) and Afam Michael (48.56s) secured second and third place, respectively.
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Emmanuel Ajayi stood out in the Junior Boys’ High Jump, outperforming Michael Oyebode and Gideon Adoro for the win.
Future stars shine
Athletes in the Cadet (U-14) and Youth (U-17) categories participated in the preliminaries and heats for the 100m and 200m. Sarafat Salimot of Christ Girls’ emerged as a standout in the U-14 class, topping both the 100m and 200m heats with impressive times of 13.2s and 27.53s, respectively.
In the boys’ U-14 100m, Jamiu Segun Ogunde, Adekunle Fawas, and Darius Ayomide secured the top positions and will battle it out for the win in the semi-finals and finals.
The electrifying competition continues until Monday, 8 April.
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