Reigning National U20 leader in the Mens 200m, Adekalu Fakorede has been named the Team Captain of the Nigerian team to this year’s World U20 Championships billed to hold in Cali, Colombia between Aug 1-6th .
Fakorede was a semi finalist in the 200m at the last edition held in Nairobi, Kenya and was also part of the sprint relay team that got to the final.
He set a Personal Best of 20.87s during the semifinal where he finished 6th. In May this year, he equalled his PB at the AFN All Comers in Abuja to win the final.
The Akure-based athlete expressed his appreciation after being announced.
“When it was announced that I was going to be the captain of team Nigeria for the world Junior Championships in cali, I was surprised about it and also happy.”
Reacting to whether he or his teammates are under any form of pressure, he said;
“There is the no pressure ahead of the championship because we (athletes) are going the competition in good spirit and we are also anticipating a good outing. We are training well in camp and we are best of the best in the events in the nation. I’m hoping for a better outing than the last one we had last year in the Kenya.”
Fakorede shared his moments from last year World U20 Champs.
“The experience I had last year at the world junior championships in Kenya was good, the fact it was my first international outing representing Nigeria and I had a pb in the 200m which is also a national record for the junior category. This season we hope to go all out and put up the best show and beam the faces of Nigerians with smiles.”
Team Nigeria finished third on the overall medals table at the 2021 World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya. The athletes amassed 7 medals — four gold and three bronze — to rank behind Kenya, the host, and Finland.
We wish the team the very best!