Adedokun Waliyu 
Team Nigeria has earned two automatic tickets to the Paris Olympics at the ongoing World Athletics Relay Championship.
Nigeria picked up berths for the mixed 4×400 meters and men’s 4×400 meters relay races in the Bahamas in the early hours of Sunday.
The mixed relay team, which comprises Chidi Okezie, Ella Onojuvwevwo, Esther Joseph, and Samuel Ogazi, achieved the feat when they breezed a season-best of 3:13.79s.
Nigeria finished second behind the US, who clocked a championship record of 3:11.52s, in heat two and secured a ticket to compete in Paris in July.
The best two teams from each heat of every discipline qualify for the World Relay final and earn an automatic ticket to the Olympic Games.
A few hours later, Okezie anchored Nigeria’s men 4×400 meters relay team to another Olympic ticket.
The 30-year-old completed the efforts of Sikiru Adeyemi, Dubem Nwanchukwu, and Dubem Amene and finished second behind Belgium in heat two.
The team posted a season’s best 3:01.70s to beat Jamaica, who finished third.
Both teams will fly the Nigerian colours in their respective finals billed for Monday.
However, Nigeria failed to secure the men’s and women’s 4×100 meters relay tickets at the first attempts.
The teams will compete in the second round of qualifiers on Monday and hope to improve their performances.
