zacn01:

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I think we can all agree that Nigerians are among the best athletes in the world. Athletes who have links to Nigeria compete for countries such as Qatar (Femi Ogunode), Bahrain (Kemi Adejoya), Norway (Ezinne Okparaebo), Italy (Ayorinde Folorunso), USA (Barbara Nwaba). On the relatively small archipelago of Britain there are quite a lot of athletes with Nigerian links who have competed for the U.K in recent times such as James Dasaolu, Tiffany Porter and C.J. Ujah.

In this article I have compiled some facts about some young, talented, under the age of 17 athletes with Nigerian links who are names to watch out for in the near future.

GRAIG ANYA-JOSEPH
With a personal best of 10.94 at the age of 13, Graig is one of the more prolific sprinters on this list. His time, recorded at the England U15 Championships in Bedford, UK, was the quickest time recorded in the competition and in the UK in 2017 for 13-14 year olds, sadly 0.04 outside the world age record of 10.90. He has won the South of England Indoor Championships in a blistering time of 7.16 seconds over 60m, to follow that up with a UK lead of 7.08 at the Essex Championships. He is definitely one to watch this season, and I will keep you updated.

ZACHARY NWOGWUGWU
While Graig keeps a tight hold on the proceedings in the East of England and Essex, Zachary has been tearing up the South East of England – Kent. Specifically Kent, as that is where he has completed an indoor and outdoor title win over both 60m and 100m, and in the latter recording a time of 11.39, which was the quickest time in the whole UK that day. 60m was also a place where he excelled, achieving the 2nd quickest time overall at the England U15 Indoor Championships. At 13 years he ran a 60m time of 7.36 which put him 9th in the UK for 14 year olds when he was a year younger than the rest of the competition! It also made him the 6th quickest 13 year old Britain has ever seen over 60 metres.
Updates on how his season goes will follow soon enough. You can also follow Zachary on his instagram handle @zacn01 for video recordings of his races. He will also be providing updates here on Nairaland.


REMI JOKOSENUMI
The quickest 13 year old over 200m in the country in 2017 rounds off our top three sprinters. With a personal best of 11.46 in 100m and 22.51 over 200m, Remi is easily the quickest sprinter in London by a mile. He has recently completed an indoor double over 60m and 200m where he fended off strong competition in both to assert his dominance in the indoor national competition. His season will be followed, stay tuned.


JOSHUA OGUNFOLAJU
We switch over to the field to view another great talent. Josh Ogunfolaju has recently won the Essex County Championships in his favoured event of triple jump, having jumped 13.44m, a leap that is the 18th best ever recorded for age 14 in the UK, in only his 2nd outdoor competition of the year. He is currently ranked amongst adults in the triple jump, #76 in the UK at his young age. He also is better than most U17s at triple jump – would be ranked 5th amongst 15-16 year olds. A talent to watch, his progress will be updated.

DOMINIC OGBECHIE
A little bit older than the rest of our athletes – however this just means the promise is more defined. With sprint PBs of 10.86 and 21.52 you would think this was another Nigerian sprint talent – however Dominic finds his feet in the field events, noticeably high jump and long jump. Dom broke the age 15 world record in high jump with a leap of 2.22m at the England U17 Championships whilst also breaking the British U17 long jump record with a jump of 7.53m. He already competes regularly for England and it is not known whether he will make the switch and compete for his home country of Nigeria.


Zachary writes from the U.K where he is a student at one of the Eton Group of Independent Schools.

zacn01:
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I think we can all agree that Nigerians are among the best athletes in the world. Athletes who have links to Nigeria compete for countries such as Qatar (Femi Ogunode), Bahrain (Kemi Adejoya), Norway (Ezinne Okparaebo), Italy (Ayorinde Folorunso), USA (Barbara Nwaba). On the relatively small archipelago of Britain there are quite a lot of athletes with Nigerian links who have competed for the U.K in recent times such as James Dasaolu, Tiffany Porter and C.J. Ujah.

In this article I have compiled some facts about some young, talented, under the age of 17 athletes with Nigerian links who are names to watch out for in the near future.

GRAIG ANYA-JOSEPH
With a personal best of 10.94 at the age of 13, Graig is one of the more prolific sprinters on this list. His time, recorded at the England U15 Championships in Bedford, UK, was the quickest time recorded in the competition and in the UK in 2017 for 13-14 year olds, sadly 0.04 outside the world age record of 10.90. He has won the South of England Indoor Championships in a blistering time of 7.16 seconds over 60m, to follow that up with a UK lead of 7.08 at the Essex Championships. He is definitely one to watch this season, and I will keep you updated.

ZACHARY NWOGWUGWU
While Graig keeps a tight hold on the proceedings in the East of England and Essex, Zachary has been tearing up the South East of England – Kent. Specifically Kent, as that is where he has completed an indoor and outdoor title win over both 60m and 100m, and in the latter recording a time of 11.39, which was the quickest time in the whole UK that day. 60m was also a place where he excelled, achieving the 2nd quickest time overall at the England U15 Indoor Championships. At 13 years he ran a 60m time of 7.36 which put him 9th in the UK for 14 year olds when he was a year younger than the rest of the competition! It also made him the 6th quickest 13 year old Britain has ever seen over 60 metres.
Updates on how his season goes will follow soon enough. You can also follow Zachary on his instagram handle @zacn01 for video recordings of his races. He will also be providing updates here on Nairaland.


REMI JOKOSENUMI
The quickest 13 year old over 200m in the country in 2017 rounds off our top three sprinters. With a personal best of 11.46 in 100m and 22.51 over 200m, Remi is easily the quickest sprinter in London by a mile. He has recently completed an indoor double over 60m and 200m where he fended off strong competition in both to assert his dominance in the indoor national competition. His season will be followed, stay tuned.


JOSHUA OGUNFOLAJU
We switch over to the field to view another great talent. Josh Ogunfolaju has recently won the Essex County Championships in his favoured event of triple jump, having jumped 13.44m, a leap that is the 18th best ever recorded for age 14 in the UK, in only his 2nd outdoor competition of the year. He is currently ranked amongst adults in the triple jump, #76 in the UK at his young age. He also is better than most U17s at triple jump – would be ranked 5th amongst 15-16 year olds. A talent to watch, his progress will be updated.

DOMINIC OGBECHIE
A little bit older than the rest of our athletes – however this just means the promise is more defined. With sprint PBs of 10.86 and 21.52 you would think this was another Nigerian sprint talent – however Dominic finds his feet in the field events, noticeably high jump and long jump. Dom broke the age 15 world record in high jump with a leap of 2.22m at the England U17 Championships whilst also breaking the British U17 long jump record with a jump of 7.53m. He already competes regularly for England and it is not known whether he will make the switch and compete for his home country of Nigeria.


Zachary writes from the U.K where he is a student at one of the Eton Group of Independent Schools. Videos will follow in subsequent updates.

beneli:


I have watched the races you posted on your instagram page and can see that you're clearly a talented young man. Keep it up! I have a few questions for you though.

1. I notice that in addition to the U.K and Nigeria flags you also have the flags of U.S.A and Trinidad & Tobago on your profile. Do you have connections with those countries as well?
I wouldn't go so far as to align myself with the USA and Trinidad directly, however the US is where I was born and I have relatives from Trinidad.
2. Do you see yourself actually competing for Nigeria one day, if you were to continue with athletics?
If I were to continue with athletics, I feel that competing for Nigeria would be a great honour and massive opportunity and so I would definitely look forward and consider that as a valid option.
3. There's the general belief that foreign born athletes with Nigeria connections only remember Nigeria once they've not been able to make the teams of their countries of birth. What is your views about that observation?
That's a valid observation, although I counter that perhaps these athletes were once at the top of their respective countries, while the standard of Nigerian athletes were higher - they would work to improve and then secure an international bout as they were now at a level to compete for Nigeria.

zacn01:
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I think we can all agree that Nigerians are among the best athletes in the world. Athletes who have links to Nigeria compete for countries such as Qatar (Femi Ogunode), Bahrain (Kemi Adejoya), Norway (Ezinne Okparaebo), Italy (Ayorinde Folorunso), USA (Barbara Nwaba). On the relatively small archipelago of Britain there are quite a lot of athletes with Nigerian links who have competed for the U.K in recent times such as James Dasaolu, Tiffany Porter and C.J. Ujah.

In this article I have compiled some facts about some young, talented, under the age of 17 athletes with Nigerian links who are names to watch out for in the near future.

GRAIG ANYA-JOSEPH
With a personal best of 10.94 at the age of 13, Graig is one of the more prolific sprinters on this list. His time, recorded at the England U15 Championships in Bedford, UK, was the quickest time recorded in the competition and in the UK in 2017 for 13-14 year olds, sadly 0.04 outside the world age record of 10.90. He has won the South of England Indoor Championships in a blistering time of 7.16 seconds over 60m, to follow that up with a UK lead of 7.08 at the Essex Championships. He is definitely one to watch this season, and I will keep you updated.

ZACHARY NWOGWUGWU
While Graig keeps a tight hold on the proceedings in the East of England and Essex, Zachary has been tearing up the South East of England – Kent. Specifically Kent, as that is where he has completed an indoor and outdoor title win over both 60m and 100m, and in the latter recording a time of 11.39, which was the quickest time in the whole UK that day. 60m was also a place where he excelled, achieving the 2nd quickest time overall at the England U15 Indoor Championships. At 13 years he ran a 60m time of 7.36 which put him 9th in the UK for 14 year olds when he was a year younger than the rest of the competition! It also made him the 6th quickest 13 year old Britain has ever seen over 60 metres.
Updates on how his season goes will follow soon enough. You can also follow Zachary on his instagram handle @zacn01 for video recordings of his races. He will also be providing updates here on Nairaland.


REMI JOKOSENUMI
The quickest 13 year old over 200m in the country in 2017 rounds off our top three sprinters. With a personal best of 11.46 in 100m and 22.51 over 200m, Remi is easily the quickest sprinter in London by a mile. He has recently completed an indoor double over 60m and 200m where he fended off strong competition in both to assert his dominance in the indoor national competition. His season will be followed, stay tuned.


JOSHUA OGUNFOLAJU
We switch over to the field to view another great talent. Josh Ogunfolaju has recently won the Essex County Championships in his favoured event of triple jump, having jumped 13.44m, a leap that is the 18th best ever recorded for age 14 in the UK, in only his 2nd outdoor competition of the year. He is currently ranked amongst adults in the triple jump, #76 in the UK at his young age. He also is better than most U17s at triple jump – would be ranked 5th amongst 15-16 year olds. A talent to watch, his progress will be updated.

DOMINIC OGBECHIE
A little bit older than the rest of our athletes – however this just means the promise is more defined. With sprint PBs of 10.86 and 21.52 you would think this was another Nigerian sprint talent – however Dominic finds his feet in the field events, noticeably high jump and long jump. Dom broke the age 15 world record in high jump with a leap of 2.22m at the England U17 Championships whilst also breaking the British U17 long jump record with a jump of 7.53m. He already competes regularly for England and it is not known whether he will make the switch and compete for his home country of Nigeria.


Zachary writes from the U.K where he is a student at one of the Eton Group of Independent Schools. Videos will follow in subsequent updates.