Relay teams from South Africa and Ghana will be part of the 2016 Warri Relays, President of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, Solomon Ogba, has announced.
The Warri Relays, which will take place on Saturday, July 9, after the national Olympic trials in Sapele, is among other things targeted at putting the Nigerian relay team in good stead for a good show at the Rio Olympics.
“Ghana, South Africa, Botswana are also all coming so it is advantage for us as we would be able to see how we fare against them,” the AFN boss told journalists in Lagos.
Mr. Ogba ssid the strong roster of countries coming for the event should help bring out the best in the Nigerian relay team.
“We believe that other countries will be coming too. The relays will also give the athletes the opportunity to run together as a team going to the Olympics against other countries
“We are doing the relays because we have comparative advantage there to strive for medals. We are one of the very few countries that can boast of at least six average athletes in the short sprints, we must not lose sight of that advantage.
Aside the Warri Relays, the AFN president also said there were plans to have the country’s relay team feature in the Monaco leg of the IAFF Diamond League.
“We are also planning for them to run at the Diamond League in Monaco in the 4 X 100 on July 15. We are working towards getting us into the meet,” he said.
The bulk of Nigeria’s medals in athletics have come from relay events, chief amongst being the gold in the 4x400m men’s event at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
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