United States of America-based middle distance runner, Edose Ibadin has set his mind on knicking a new men’s 800m record at this year’s Nigerian Athletics Championship next month, and then gun for a bigger feat at the global level in September.
Sports247 reports that, though the Nigerian championship is still over a month away, since it is scheduled to hold from July 31 to August 2nd in Abeokuta, Ibadin is already thinking of making the best of it to set a new mark and spur himself towards greater things afterwards.
Read Also: The NFL’s African Expansion Faces Scrutiny Amid Allegations Of Undermining Nigerian Flag Football
The 32-year-old athlete, who was born in the USA but opted to run for Nigeria after emerging through the ranks at Hampton Pirates and Towson University, noted that he had a slow start to his campaign for this year but added that he’s now getting into top form.
Ibadin, who set the Nigerian men’s 800m record of 1:44:65 minutes in July 2023 at an event in Washington DC, USA, admitted: “I had a slow build-up this season.
“I’ve now definitely started to hit some of the fast runs that I’ve been training for.
“The progress has been from March, April and the beginning of May. Now, we’re beginning to hit some of those rougher types of faster marks.”
The enterprising athlete, who initially competed as an unattached athlete in the US, before switching allegiance to run for Nigeria in 2016, further revealed that he has stepped up his training routine in order to excel at the national competition, which will serve as a trials for the 2025 World Athletics Championship billed for September in Tokyo, Japan.
“I’m now putting in more work that can bring a fast 800m race. It’s coming along in training, and I recently ran a season best.
“That means the training is showing. I’m now looking forward to defending my title. Though I know I’m number one, I don’t take it lightly, because anything can happen.
“So, I’m just trying to draw up my time slowly, and I’ll soon hit the world standard, like I know I can do,” enthused Ibadin, who was part of Nigeria’s 100m x 4 gold medal-winning relay quartet at the 2023 Africa Games in Accra, Ghana.
