Team Nigeria failed to win any medal at the just-concluded IAAF World Indoor Championships as the 4x400m Men’s and Women’s Relay teams, which gave Nigeria some glimmer of hope, faltered in the final day of competition in Portland, United States.
Doreen Amata in the Women’s High Jump could not also give a final push as she ended in 9th place on the final day.
Nigeria’s ‘no-show’ on the podium at the championship will not be surprising for many as expectations were moderate judging by the antecedent of the athletes (mostly debutantes) that were in the Team Nigeria.
Poor travel arrangements, which denied some athletes the opportunity of making it to Portland and others arriving pretty late, further lessened Nigeria’s chances for medals at the year’s first big athletics show.
Nigeria last won a medal at a World Indoor Championships eight years ago. That was gold won by Olusoji Fasuba in the men’s 60m in Valencia, Spain, with a time of 6.51m.
Since then, the country is waiting to win at least a Bronze at the event.
While Nigeria will be counting her woes from Portland, organisers are counting their gains even as the IAAF President reckons that the competition was a huge success.
The victory by the United States men’s 4x400m relay team brought their medal tally to 23 medals, 13 of which were gold, meaning the hosts took half of the titles that were on offer.
It is understood that four of the evening sessions at the Oregon Convention Centre were sell-outs, with a combined attendance figure of nearly 40,000.
“During the past four days, we have experienced indoor athletics at its finest at the IAAF World Indoor Championships Portland 2016,” said IAAF President, Sebastian Coe.
“Top-class entertainment, innovatively presented with light and sound effects, from the introduction of athletes in the stadium to the medal ceremonies in the heart of city centre.
“We were thrilled by some outstanding performances. The four action-packed days produced 10 world-leading marks, with two championship, seven area and more than 40 national records set in the Oregon Convention Centre.
“Indoor athletics offers an intimate experience for sports fans who are separated by no more than a few feet from the athletes in competition. The capacity crowds this week have shown that indoor athletics delivers a great show when well packaged.”
The next edition of the biennial world indoor championships will take place in Birmingham.
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