Nigeria’s quartet of Samson Nathaniel, Imaobong Nse Uko, Dubem Amene and Patience Okon-George became the first African team in World Championships history to compete in the final of the Mixed 4×400 meters event, finishing in a respectable sixth position to draw the curtains on Day 1 of the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Oregon.
The team had earlier stormed to a Season’s Best of 3:14.59 in the heats, with Uko anchoring at the time. However, she switched places with the more experienced Okon-George in the final, with the latter holding on to 6th place after receiving the baton from Amene who also put up a commendable display as Nigeria returned a time of 3:16.21 to finish ahead of Italy and Ireland.
Dominican Republic pulled off a huge upset to dethrone USA who had to settle for bronze, storming to a scintillating new World Lead (WL) of 3:09.82 to deny multiple World Championships Gold medallist Allyson Felix a golden farewell. Femke Bol ran a smashing anchor leg for the Netherlands, finishing strong to take Silver, with Olympic Champions Poland finishing outside the medals zone in 4th as Jamaica settled for 5th.
Kenya was the first African country to present a Mixed 4×400 meters team at the World Championships in 2019 where the event was making its debut. However, they finished 6th in their heat and didn’t advance to the final.
