World Athletics has unveiled the final entry list for the upcoming World Athletics Indoor Championships, but notable Nigerian stars Tobi Amusan, Favour Ofili, and Ese Brume are absent from Team Nigeria.
The prestigious competition will take place in Nanjing, China, from March 21 to 23.
With these top athletes missing, shot put specialist Chukwuebuka Enekwechi and 400m runner Chidi Okezie will lead Nigeria’s nine-member team. Other Nigerian athletes featured in the championship include NCAA women’s indoor high jump champion Temitope Adeshina, African indoor 400m record holder Ezekiel Nathaniel, and Paris Olympic finalist Prestina Ochonogor. The full squad is rounded out by Edidiong Udo, James Onwuka, Ifeanyi Ojeli, and Joshua Caleb.
Team Nigeria will be represented by seven men and two women, competing in events such as high jump, long jump, 400m, shot put, and the men’s 4x400m relay.
The World Athletics Championships will feature 576 athletes from 127 countries, including 11 defending champions and 20 Olympic medalists from Paris 2024. Of the participants, 264 are women and 312 are men.
Among the defending champions from the last edition in Glasgow competing in Nanjing are world record holders Mondo Duplantis (pole vault), Devynne Charlton (60m hurdles), Grant Holloway (60m hurdles), Molly Caudery (pole vault), Tsige Duguma (800m), Hamish Kerr (high jump), Thea Lafond (triple jump), Sarah Mitton (shot put), Nicola Olyslagers (high jump), Miltiadis Tentoglou (long jump), and Hugues Fabrice Zango (triple jump). Many of these athletes—Duplantis, Holloway, Kerr, Lafond, and Tentoglou—also won Olympic gold in Paris last year. They will be joined by fellow Olympic champions Yaroslava Mahuchikh (high jump) and Jakob Ingebrigtsen (1500m and 3000m), both of whom are also world record holders.
Among the notable local athletes in action will be China’s Olympic and two-time world shot put champion Gong Lijiao, as well as two-time global triple jump medallist Zhu Yaming.
