The wild jubilations that greeted the qualification of Team Nigeria’s 4x400m men’s relay team for the final at the Paris Olympic Games on Friday have been cut short.
This follows the disqualification of the quartet of Emmanuel Ojeli, Ezekiel Nathaniel, Dubem Amene and Chidi Okezie despite finishing in heat 2 with a Season’s Best time of 2:59.81.
France won the race in 2:59.53, with Belgium taking the 3rd automatic spot in 2:59.84.
Infringed rule
As explained, the Nigerian relay team was disqualified for violating World Athletics’ competition rule 17.2.3, which states that each athlete must stay within their allocated lane from start to finish and not step or run on or inside the left-hand lane line or kerb when running on a bend.
Lead-off runner Ojeli’s violation of the rule resulted in the team’s disqualification, and their spot in the final has been awarded to South Africa.
This marks a remarkable turnaround for the South African team, who had been on the brink of elimination after one of their athletes fell during the race.
For the Nigerian quartet who ran the country’s fastest race in over two decades, they will be heartbroken by this unfortunate incident.
The Nigerian runners were looking to emulate the 1984, 2000 and 2004 teams who won bronze, gold and bronze again in the Los Angeles, Sydney and Athens editions of the Olympic Games.
