MoC Academy Athletes win 13 Medals at MTN CHAMPS Season 4 Grand Final in Ibadan

Athletes of MoC Athletics Academy, Lagos, brought their 2026 MTN CHAMPS campaign to a fitting close, winning a total of 13 medals – 7 GOLD, 3 Silver, and 3 Bronze – at the Season 4 Grand Final held at the Lekan Salami Stadium in Ibadan.

Their performance in Ibadan capped an impressive season that began in Calabar, where they secured 22 medals (6 GOLD, 12 Silver, and 4 Bronze). The team then delivered their biggest haul in Jos, amassing 28 medals (12 GOLD, 10 Silver, and 6 Bronze).

Their total medal haul across the three locations of MTN CHAMPS Season 4 earned the athletes a massive 63 medals (25 GOLD, 25 Silver, and 13 Bronze), surpassing their 38-medal haul in Season 3, underlining their consistency and steady progression of the team.

Senior Athletes Set the Tone with Strong Finishes

MoC Athletics Academy dominated the senior 400m, with Miracle Donald delivering an impressive performance to secure her first individual GOLD medal of the season in the 400m. After dominating her heat in 55.27s, she returned to clock 54.07s in the final.

In the men’s category, Ezekiel Asuquo followed suit, powering to victory to clinch GOLD in 46.60s to round off a strong CHAMPS campaign. He also added a Silver medal in the 200m. Benjamin Magaji and Stephen Adejumo both qualified for the men’s 400m final after clocking 48.45s and 48.31s in their respective heats.

Showers Ushie clocked 10.72s in the men’s 100m heats and 21.71s in the 200m heats. Emmanuel Obi also featured in both events, recording a Personal Best (PB) of 11.04s in the 100m and progressing to the semifinals.

 Junior Athletes Impress with Speed, Depth, and Personal Bests

Lucy Nwankwo was one of the standout performers for the MoC Academy, clocking a PB of 11.52s in the 100m heats – the fastest time in her category – before improving to 11.46s in the semis and claiming Bronze in 11.57s. She also narrowly missed the podium in the 200m, finishing 4th after a semifinal PB of 23.76s.

Mercy Ogbonna ran 12.00s in both her 100m heat and semis, and 25.14s in the 200m semis. Azeezat Muhammed-Raji clocked 12.16s in her 100m heat and recorded a Season’s Best (SB) of 12.11s in the semis. In the 200m, she ran times of 25.25s and 24.81s (PB) respectively.

Alvin Onyeama led the charge in the junior men’s sprints, winning his 100m heat in 10.64s before taking Bronze in the final with 10.66s. He also showed strong form in the 200m, progressing from the heats (22.49s) to the semifinals (22.12s).

Emmanuel Akolo was impressive, posting a PB of 10.64s in the 100m semifinals and finishing 4th in the final (10.69s). In the 200m, he recorded successive lifetime bests of 21.92s (heats) and 21.86s (final), finishing 4th.

Destiny Reuben clocked a lifetime best of 10.94s to win his 100m heat, improved to 10.84s in the semis, and also impressed in the 200m with times of 22.58s and 22.43s. Kehinde Seriki also recorded PBs in the 100m, running 10.93s in the heats and 10.90s in the semis, while advancing to the 200m final.

Other notable performances came from Emmanuel Oyewale (11.04s PB), Abdulfatah Oduwole (PBs in both 100m and 200m), and Mighty Otunola, who progressed to the semifinals in both sprint events.

In the 400m, Michael Aniche and Prosper Ushie reached the final, clocking 48.28s and 48.44s respectively. On the women’s side, Patience Joseph, Victory Aganya, and Chidimma Esomonu posted 56.83s, 57.65s, and 57.67s in their respective heats, with Joseph improving to 56.21s in the semifinals.

Youth Athletes Announce Themselves with Dominant Displays

Fervent Edet delivered a dominant performance in his final year as a youth athlete, winning double GOLD in the 100m and 200m. He ran a PB of 10.99s in the 100m heats before securing GOLD in 11.10s, and followed up with victory in the 200m (22.45s). Rebecca Enilolobo claimed Silver in the 100m with a PB of 12.07s and also impressed in the 200m, clocking in the semis.

Nneoma Okonkwo made her MoC debut, competing in both sprint events where she clocked 12.96s and 27.41s, respectively, while Chizoba Onyemauwa reached both the 400m and 200m finals, placing 5th and 6th, respectively. She ran 58.39s to win her heat, and 59.32s in the final. She returned times of 25.83s, 25.76s and 26.73s across the 200m rounds.

Relays

The relays provided more podium finishes for the Academy. The junior men’s 4x100m team (Onyeama, Akolo, Ushie, Reuben) secured Bronze in 42.56s, while the junior women’s team (Muhammed-Raji, Nwankwo, Ogbonna, Joseph) clinched GOLD in 46.53s. The senior men’s 4x100m team finished 5th in 42.41s. In the mixed 4x100m relay, Team MTN B (Oduwole, Muhammed-Raji, Seriki, Enilolobo) won Silver in 44.03s, while Team MTN A placed 4th.

The junior mixed 4x400m relay team (Ushie, Esomonu, Aniche, Joseph) capped the competition in style, storming to GOLD in 3:31.15s. The Senior team comprising Stephen Adejumo, Lucy Nwankwo, Ezekiel Asuquo and Miracle Donald, also followed suit, winning GOLD with 3:26.69s.

MTN serves as the lead sponsor of the MoC Athletics Academy, with Beacon Power Services (BPS) as an official Academy partner. This marks the second consecutive year of MTN’s support, with 20 athletes competing under Team MTN. Meanwhile, BPS is sponsoring two athletes – Reuben and Enilolobo – who have been awarded three-year scholarships under Team BPS.