3 Nigerian athletes set to compete at the Edmonton Invitational in Canada

Usheoritse Itsekiri, Sade Olatoye, and Edose Ibadin

3 Nigerian athletes set to compete at the Edmonton Invitational in Canada

Funmilayo Fameso 06:27 - 02.07.2023

Nigerian track stars Usheoritse Itsekiri, Sade Olatoye, and Edose Ibadin are listed to compete at the Edmonton Invitational in Canada.

For the first time this year, at least three Nigerian athletes (Usheoritse Itsekiri, Sade Olatoye, and Edose Ibadin) will be at the same meet in Canada on Sunday.

Before this, the only Nigerian based and usually competed in Canada was Itsekiri. Now he has Ibadin and Olatoye joining him.

Usheoritse Itsekiri after one of his races in Canada

Itsekiri, who has been making his presence known since moving to the North American country over a year ago, will be gunning to extend his unbeaten streak but more importantly, try to hit the World Championships qualifying standard of 10.00s in the 100m.

He has a Season's Best (SB) time of 10.02s, which ties his lifetime best and last week, he clocked a blistering 20.34s (0.9) to win the 200m event at the Johnny Loaring Classic in Ontario, massively lowering his previous PB of 20.53s set in 2019.

The Tokyo Olympian will aim to bring this form to Edmonton and hope the PB luck shines on him.

Meanwhile, Ibadin is also on a quest to punch a World Championships ticket to Budapest.

Edose Ibadin after one of his races this season

The Nigerian 800m record holder, who took some time off and cameback this season, has been dropping impressive marks in his races.

He'll be chasing to lower his SB of 1:45.49 and 1:44.81 to surpass the automatic qualifying standard of 1:44.70 for Budapest.

And last but not least is Olatoye, listed to compete in the women's hammer throw event. The Nigerian champion has had a string of formidable performances this season, throwing over the 69m mark thrice.

Sade Olatoye is one of Africa's best throwers

Olatoye will be aiming to go above the 70m mark for the first time in her career, which will hopefully be enough to boost her spot on the world ranking for a ticket to Budapest.

The trio are expected to be in the country for the Nigerian trials, where they will have another chance of bettering their performances this season.

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