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Chidi Okezie gave a positive warning to his competitors after running his fastest split time since college days at LSU Invitational.
Nigeria competed in the men's 4x400m event at the LSU Invitational, having Chidi Okezie anchor the team to second place finish clocking 3:05.42.
The relay squad comprised Samson Nathaniel, Ezekiel Nathaniel, Sikiru Adeyemi, and Okezie gave an impressive performance against NCAA's best quarter milers and were rewarded with their fastest time in several years.
Nathaniel started the race for Nigeria with a split time of 47.47s, then handed it to his brother Ezekiel (sophomore student at Baylor University), who also ran a superb leg of 45.99s handing the baton to Adeyemi, who maintained the momentum with 46.55s, and Okezie finished the race with the fastest split time of 45.39s.
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University of Georgia won the race in 3:04.57, and Louisiana State University (LSU) finished third in 3:07.16.
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After the race, Okezie took to his Facebook page with details on how he had a challenging month and almost didn't run the race.
"This month has been challenging. I have been feeling overwhelmed with all the tasks on my plate. Then I was planning to take a week off to spend some time with my family at Penns Relays," wrote Okezie.
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"Then on Monday, Nigeria called me, saying they needed me to run on 4x4 at LSU. Then on Tuesday, I started feeling pain in my leg, and my coach made me sit out on speed reps (running fast is my therapy). I got my ticket for LSU Thursday night and was leaving Friday morning," he continued.
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13:14 - 24.04.2023
WEEKEND WRAP Godson Brume stars with sub-10s clocking as Uko, Chukwuma, and Akintola run impressive SBs
Recap of Nigeria's best performers last weekend, with Godson Brume topping the list of performers.
"Before I left, I told myself God give his strongest warriors the toughest battles. Needless to say I had my fastest split since college, and scary thing is I'm not even at 100% yet."
Okezie concluded by saying "Never give up on your dreams. All you have to do is BELIEVE."
Okezie in the 2023 season
The two-times African Championships bronze medallist in the 400m clocked a 200m lifetime best of 20.79s at the NSU Invitational in Norfolk two weeks ago, and has a Season's Best (SB) of 46.40s in the 400m.
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Then in the indoor season, he ran a 300m lifetime best of 33.73s, which erased his previous best of 34.28s.
Okezie has been one of Nigeria's most important quarter-milers since he switched nationalities and made his international debut.
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20:50 - 21.04.2023
Meet the 5 Nigerian athletes that have so far qualified for the 2024 World Indoor Championships
From the qualification standard released by the World Athletics, here are five Nigerian athletes that have qualified for the World Indoor Championships.
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