Team Nigeria’s quartet of Imaobong Uko, Emmanuel Ojeli, Nathaniel Samson, and Patience Okon-George have set a new African record in the 4×400 mixed relay with a time of 3:13.60 seconds.
The team finished fifth in their heat and missed out on qualifying for the semi-finals but they will definitely cherish the new feat they achieved.
Ojeli is also pleased that the Nigerian team made history by becoming the first African team to qualify and compete at the Olympics.
“We have been trying so hard to qualify in the 4x400m men and women so when we heard that the Mixed Relays was going to hold, we just needed to put ourselves together to qualify for the event. We are the first African team to qualify for the event at the Olympics and ran an African Record as well,” he said.
Okon-George who is making a second appearance at the Olympics is also proud of her teammates and their record-breaking achievement.
“The last race we ran back in June was 3:14.09 and the 3:13.60 we ran today is good. We are happy with the new African Record. It was not easy running with 43second runners on the anchor leg. Now that we haven’t made it to the final, I’m just going to be focused and get ready for the 400m. I think I’m good to go”.
The team’s attention will now shift towards qualifying for next year’s World Championships in Oregon.