Paris Olympics: Team Nigeria in tough heats as men's and women's 4x100m relays begin on Thursday

Winning a relay medal is usually down to the speed of the stick and not the speed of the legs.

 As the women's and men's 4x100m relays begin Thursday morning in the ongoing Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the success and failure of Team Nigeria relay teams depend on who is managing our teams and not whether they are in tough heat or a relatively easy one.

Though, our 4x100m women are in a tough heat with Trinidad and Tobago, Spain, Netherlands, France, Great Britain, Canada, and Jamaica all vying to be among the top three that will qualify automatically, a good relay manager like Innocent Egbunike who has led Team Nigeria relay teams to podium appearances on several occasions will seamlessly navigate our qualification and lead the teams to win a medal but with rookie coaches from American colleges handling our teams, qualification and winning medals will be tough.

Our Girls face strong opposition from Great Britain’s team of Dina Asher-Smith, Imani-Lara Lansiquot, Amy Hunt, and Daryll Neita.

Another tough contender is France which just lowered its own season’s best to 42.1, also at the London Diamond League meeting.

Jamaica, the silver medallists at each of the last two World Championships and Olympic Games.

The Netherlands team ran 43.09 at World Relays and dramatically lowered their best time to 42.39 in June. Our Boys are also in a tough group, they are drawn against the Netherlands, France, Great Britain, South Africa, Japan, Australia, Italy, and the almighty USA.

Noah Lyles, the fastest man in the world, who is aiming to complete his goal of winning three gold medals in Paris will anchor the team that also has Courtney Lindsey, Kenny Bednarek, Kyree King, and other intimidating sprinters.

We are also contending with Italy, the reigning Olympic champions, who initially finished third at World Relays only to be subsequently disqualified for a changeover that occurred outside of the zone.

Undeterred, one month later Italy won the country’s first European men’s 4x100m title in 37.82 on home soil, which remains the third-fastest time in the world this year, after legs by Matteo Melluzzo, Lorenzo Patta, Filippo Tortu and reigning Olympic 100m champion Marcell Jacobs.

France, Japan, and Great Britain all finished within one-hundredth of a second together in the World Relays final, they are all a threat to Our Boys' dream of making the final.

The first three teams in the two heats and two fastest losers will qualify for the final. It’s a tough one for Our Boys and Girls.