Ochonogor wins SWAC Pre-NSF long jump
African Games 2023 bronze medallist, Prestina Ochonogor, opened her season with a remarkable win at the Southwest Athletics Conference Pre-National Sports Festival Meet in Ile-Ife, Osun State, on Wednesday, claiming a dominant win with a jump of 6.85m in the women’s long jump, NewsNGR Sports Extra reports.
The SWAC Pre-NSF Meet is one of the earliest events on the calendar of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, bringing together some of the best home-based athletes to kick-start their season.
Ochonogor’s 6.85m jump surpassed her personal best of 6.79m which she produced in April 2024, but that would only be ratified if the meet is on the World Athletics Calendar.
The 2024 Paris Olympics finalist also competed in the women’s 100m.
The 18-year-old has established herself as one of the brightest talents on the Nigerian Athletics scene in the last two years.
Last year, she made her international debut for Nigeria at the African Games in Ghana, where she produced the performance of her life, leaping a windy 6.67m to claim bronze in the women’s long jump and help Nigeria secure a 1-3 finish alongside Ese Brume.
Her current personal best of 6.79m is also the African U-20 record, which she set at the MTN Champs grand finale in Calabar, breaking the record previously set by Brume and an additional PB of 11.74s in the 100m.
At her second international senior outing for Nigeria at the CAA Region II Championships, she won gold and built on this momentum by delivering another standout performance at the Nigerian Athletics Championships, securing her first national title with a remarkable 6.75m.
She narrowly missed out on a podium finish at the African Championships in Douala, Cameroon, where she placed fourth in the long jump, and still qualified for the Paris Olympics.
In Paris, Ochonogor made history as part of a Nigerian trio that reached the women’s long jump final along with Brume and Ruth Usoro.
She finished 12th in the Olympics and capped off her breakout season by placing fifth at the World U-20 Championships in Lima, Peru.
