Nugent says she has no plan to join Ofili and others in Turkey
Jamaican sprinter Ackera Nugent has made her stance over a possible switching of allegiance to Turkey, as has been witnessed from some of the country’s top athletes recently.
Jamaica’s in-form sprinter Ackera Nugent has had to come out to deny that she is among the athletes ditching the country for Turkey.
In recent days, Nigeria and Jamaica has been rocked with news of top athletes changing citizenship to Turkey with Favour Ofili, Nigeria and Jamaica Rajindra Campbell (Olympic shot-put bronze medalist) and Roje Stona (discus gold medalist) leading the exodus to the European nation, which has reportedly offered each of them $500,000, to switch allegiance.
Nugent fueled speculation last week when she put up a cryptic tweet that left Jamaicans fearing that she could also be joining those switching to Turkey, but she has cleared the air.
“I know what is going on, but at the same time, I was seeing how everybody was crashing out,” Nugent told The Inside Lane.
“It is funny as hell over here, and basically, that is how I felt, that is how funny it was. I made a tweet without context, and I was like…But I am not leaving, guys, I’m repping Jamaica,” she affirmed.
The sprinter also posted on X about the same, stressing that she was not about to leave her country for the riches of Turkey.
“Guys, I’m not leaving the internet, it was just funny and the meme did make sense,” she posted after finishing third in 100m hurdles at the Paris Diamond League.
Nugent has been in great form this season, with back-to-back victories in the Short Hurdles at Grand Slam Track in both Miami and Philadelphia, while she had been third in Kingston, to pocket a total of $230,000, before the final leg in Los Angeles was cancelled.
She has featured in two Diamond Leagues, managing second in Stockholm, before third place in Paris on Friday, and she is among those that Jamaica is banking on for medals at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo in September.
