Nigeria’s Favour Ashe successfully qualified for the men’s 100m semi-finals at the 2026 African Athletics Championships in Accra, Ghana, after Team Nigeria overturned his initial false-start disqualification.
There was drama during the heats after Ashe initially finished and won his race before track officials issued a red card and disqualified him for an alleged false start.
The Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) immediately filed an appeal, arguing that the ruling was unjust due to a faulty starting gun which repeatedly malfunctioned during the heats.
The competition jury later upheld Nigeria’s protest and granted Ashe a rare solo re-run later in the evening.
Running alone on the track, Ashe clocked 10.55 seconds to place 24th overall and safely secure qualification for the semi-finals.
Nigeria also impressed in the field events after Divine Oladipo claimed silver in the women’s discus on her debut outing for the country.
Obiageri Amaechi added a bronze medal to complete a double podium finish for Nigeria in the event.
The championships, which began on May 12, will run until May 17, with Nigerian athletes competing across multiple events as the competition continues.
