Winners have emerged in the two-day 2023 MTN CHAMPS competition, which held at the Moshood Abiola Stadium in Abuja.
The 2023 MTN CHAMPS grand final concluded with several standout performances from both Most Valuable Performers (MVPs) and new winners.
In the Girls’ 100 meters, Miracle Oluebube Ezechukwu from Nigerian Tulip International Secondary School emerged as a dominant force, shattering three personal bests (PBs) on her way to victory.
She clocked 12.16 seconds in the heats and 11.96 seconds in the semifinals, and she secured gold with a new lifetime best of 11.93 seconds in the final.
Team MVP Chigozie Nwankwo claimed silver with a time of 12.19 seconds, while another Team MVP member, Success Oyibu, finished with a PB of 12.31 seconds to take bronze.
Emmanuel Oyetunde, also of Team MVP, maintained his dominance in the Boys’ 100 meters, crossing the line first in 11.43 seconds.
Khalil Saleh from Doveland International School settled for silver, while David Nda-Isaiah of International Community School took bronze.
The most impressive performance of the day, however, came from Alvin Onyeama, another Team MVP athlete.
He shaved off over two-tenths of a second from his 100 meters PB, setting a new personal best of 11.09 seconds in the semifinals, which stood as the fastest overall time in the category.
Adaeze Ezeh, yet another Team MVP, led a 1-2 finish for her team in the Cadet Girls’ 100 meters, securing gold ahead of Faidah Abdulhamed while Mwuese Zoko took third place.
In the Cadet Boys’ 100 meters, Lucky Ebe of Team MVP claimed victory, followed by Abdulrahman Saleh of Foundation Science and Fervent Imoh of Team MVP.
The Junior Girls’ 100 meters saw a complete sweep for Team MVP. Rosemary Edet stormed to gold in a new lifetime best of 11.82 seconds, while Faith Osamuyi and Victoria Olaniyi took silver and bronze, respectively.
In the Junior Boys’ 100 meters, Osama Chibueze and Aina Precious, both of Team MVP, claimed gold and bronze, respectively, while Emmanuel Peter Aki took silver.
The Youth Boys’ 400 meters proved to be an explosive event, with Eniola Shiro of Team MVP emerging victorious.
He set a new PB of 50.53 seconds in the semifinals and further improved his time to 50.11 seconds in the final. National Youth Games (NYG) champion Michael Aniche and Prosper Ushie followed closely behind.
Team MVP also dominated the Youth Girls’ 400 meters, with Miracle Sonny leading the way, followed by Miracle Uwem and Patience Joseph.
Yetunde Saibu, who represented Nigeria at the African Under-20 Championships earlier this year, came from behind to dominate the Junior Girls’ 400 meters. Miracle Isaac Chukwuwike emerged as the Junior Boys’ Champion in the event.
Angel Uaagbaoje and Queen Nwika were the top two finishers in the Youth Girls’ Triple Jump, while Team MVP’s Anthony Lucky and Dele Fadumi of Birabi Memorial recorded the same positions in the Youth Boys’ category.
Meekness Dogonyaro and Favour Omeh dominated the Junior Girls’ event, with Fiaku Goodluck Ezechukwuchiro and David Yamai doing the same in the Junior Boys’ event.
In the Cadet Boys’ High Jump, Dabra Kio of Doveland International School cleared 1.40 meters to take gold, while Team MVP’s Moses Ogidi took silver.
The 200m finals across the Cadet, Youth, and Junior categories, along with the 800m finals, 4x100m relay finals, and 4x400m relay finals, will be held on the third and final day of the competition.
At the end of the competition, 20 athletes will be shortlisted, with 10 of them eventually being selected for the MoC Academy to be sponsored by MTN.
