Nigerian women's 4 x 100 relay team qualify for London Olympics final

Any hope of clinching a medal for the Nigerian team at the London Olympics was further dimmed as Nigerian women came fourth in the 4 x 100m event.

The race was won by the United States team who set a new world record of 40.82 secs. Jamaica came second with 41.41 secs while Ukraine won bronze with 42.04 secs setting a new national record.

The Nigerian team narrowly missed out of the medals, as the women came fourth with a time of 42.64 secs. It is the fastest the 4X100m women have run this season.

Earlier

Nigeria’s women’s 4 x 100 metres relay team at the 2012 Olympic Games on Thursday in London qualified for the final of the event, scheduled for Friday evening.

The team did it by running a season best of 42.74 seconds in the round one of the event at the Olympic Stadium.

It was, however, not an easy feat for the team of Christy Udoh, Gloria Asumnu, Oludamola Osayomi and Blessing Okagbare, running in that order.

The team, running in lane three of heat one, placed fifth behind the U.S, Trinidad and Tobago, the Netherlands and Brazil, but qualified as one of the next two fastest teams.

After the U.S, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Netherlands qualified from the heat automatically, Ukraine, Jamaica and Germany, also joined them from heat two.

With eight teams needed for the final, the next two fastest teams were picked, with the lot falling on Nigeria and Brazil, which had placed fourth ahead of Nigeria in heat one with 42.55.

Speaking after the race, Osayomi said it was a hectic occasion for her and her teammates.

“With the situation of Team Nigeria not having won any medal so far, there was a lot of tension, expectations and apprehensions.

“When we finished fifth we were disturbed and we were just praying for a miracle in the second heat and God did it for us.

“We will now go into the final to do our best and leave the rest to God,’’ she said.