Nigeria may have lost one of its best legs in 400m, following the decision of U.S.-based speed star, Omeiza Akerele, to end his bubbling athletics career. Akerele made big headlines in Africa in 2013 when he led Team Nigerian to win the 11th African Junior Athletics Championships in Mauritius. In a message to The Guardian yesterday, Akerele said: “I am done with athletics now, and I’m looking to get into coaching soon.”The decision by Akerele to end his athletics career so early is shocking to many athletics-loving Nigerians. The duo of Akerele and Divine Oduduru were in Team Nigeria’s U-17 team to the 2013 World Youth Athletics Championship in Donetsk, Ukraine. At Oral Roberts University, Akerele dominated both the 200m and 400m events, winning three Conference Championship within four years in the United States.

Source: The Guardian August 07, 2020 04:30 UTC