Ese Brume and Mike Edwards were top of the winners’ list as the 2022 Nigeria Athletics Championship ended on Sunday at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City, Edo State.

Brume, who has been in impressive form ahead of the World Championships in Oregon and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, won the Women’s Long Jump event with a leap of 6.98m.

Though the 6.98m leap fell short of her season’s best effort, it was enough to hand Brume her fifth national title and maintain her dominance in the event.

Ruth Usoro, who won the Triple Jump on Saturday, settled for the second spot with a leap of 6.53m while Ruth Agadama also made it to the podium in third place.

In the Men’s High Jump event, Mike Edwards successfully defended his title after jumping to a new Season’s Best of 2.20m.

Mike Edwards

Edwards, who was competing only for the second time this season, improved on the 2.15m he jumped in Mauritius earlier this month.

“Of course, I’m happy with the title and also happy that the other guys are also coming up nicely. Unfortunately, I will not be at the World Championships even if I had made the standards here, so the focus will be on the Commonwealth Games where I hope to give it my best shot again,” Edwards told PREMIUM TIMES and other reporters in Benin after his winning feat.

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In the men’s javelin throw, the National Record holder, Nnamdi Chinecherem, also successfully defended his title with a throw of 78.07m.

Chinecherem, despite winning the National Title again, was far from satisfied as he missed out on the automatic qualifying standard of 85m for the World Championships

In some of the other races that were decided on the final day, Sarah Ochigbo emerged as the new women’s 400m Hurdles champion with a new Personal Best of 58.35s.

In the men’s 200m race, Alaba Akintola claimed his first-ever senior national title with a time of 20.51s despite running two 4x100m races on the same day.

Also on the final day of the event in Benin City, the Nigerian women’s 4x100m quartet of Tima Godbless, Grace Nwokocha, Tobi Amusan, and Rosemary Chukwuma ran a Season’s Best of 43.25s to win the Invitational Relays and solidify their 16th position on the world ranking.

Following the conclusion of the three-day National trials in Benin City, the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) will come out with a list of athletes for the fast-approaching World Championships and Commonwealth Games.