Nigeria’s chances of fielding a men’s 4x100m relay team at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo have suffered a significant blow following Jamaica’s impressive performance at the London Diamond League on Saturday.
The Jamaican quartet of Rohan Watson, Oblique Seville, Kadrian Goldson, and Kishane Thompson clocked a season-best time of 37.80 seconds to win the men’s 4x100m event at the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, London.
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They finished ahead of Great Britain (38.08s) and the Netherlands (38.17s), pushing Nigeria out of the top 16 in the global rankings — the cut-off mark for automatic qualification.
Before Saturday’s meet, Nigeria held the 16th position with a time of 38.20 seconds, achieved during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Jamaica’s latest mark now elevates them to 15th place, relegating Nigeria to a precarious 17th and outside the qualifying bracket.
Nigeria’s absence at the World Athletics Relays in Guangzhou, China — the primary qualification pathway for relay teams — due to visa issues, had already placed their qualification hopes on a knife’s edge.
With only the top 14 teams from Guangzhou and the next two fastest teams on the world list earning spots in Tokyo, Nigeria’s margin for error has now virtually disappeared.
The men’s 4x100m was Nigeria’s best shot at qualification after its other relay teams — women’s 4x100m (17th), women’s 4x400m (19th), men’s 4x400m (22nd), and mixed 4x400m (17th) — all fell outside the automatic qualifying positions.
Now, Nigeria must hope for a reallocation of unused slots or aim to post a faster time in any of the remaining eligible meets before the qualification window closes.
However, this path is narrowing rapidly, with teams such as Brazil (38.40s), Trinidad and Tobago (38.46s), and Botswana (38.49s) closing in on Nigeria’s position.
Relay powerhouses including the USA, South Africa, Japan, Canada, and Great Britain have all already secured their spots through the Guangzhou qualifiers.
Only Jamaica and the Netherlands currently occupy the final two qualification positions based on top-list times outside of that event.
