Nigeria’s place in the Mixed 4x400m Relays at the delayed Tokyo Olympics have been confirmed by World Athletics which ratified the country’s qualification on Tuesday.

The ratification means Nigeria which holds the African Record at 3:14.09s will be the first African nation to compete in the event at an Olympics Games.

In a related development, quarter-miler Patience Okon-George has also secured her place as Nigeria’s only representative in the 400m event at Tokyo 2020. Okon-George qualified for her second Olympics via her ranking as she squeaked in at number 47 out of the 48 available slots.

Meanwhile, Sports Minister Sunday Dare has revealed that the qualified athletes will depart in two batches for Japan and that arrangements have been finalised for a 14-day Pre-Games Training Camp (PGTC) in Kisarazu.

According to Dare, the first batch of the athletes will depart for Kisarazu, Japan on 6 July while the second batch will leave on 13 July 2021.