Nairobi — The official slogan of the Local Organizing Committee of the 17th African Senior Athletics Championships beginning today aptly captures the mood pervading Nairobi, the host city of the biggest track & field fiesta in the continent: Africa is running to Nairobi.

But for Nigeria, the powerhouse of the sport in the continent, running to Nairobi is not just the ultimate but to finish the race with grace and reclaim the top spot last won in Dakar, Senegal in 1998. That is the dream of everyone in the Team Nigeria camp as battle begins for gold chase!

At the last edition in 2008 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, though Nigeria won in her traditional events like the sprints, quarter mile, a few field events and the relays, the overall title went to South Africa. But all that is about to change as the Nigerian party, brimming with some of the athletes who have made their marks in their various sports this year, are set to face the African challenge.

Nigeria's dream of a beautiful outing here is likely to get a major boost from the hurdles where Ajoke Odumosu (400m h) is a sure bet for the podium; same as Seun Adigun in the 100m hurdles. Except the unexpected happens like tripping over the sticks, these two are capable of increasing Nigeria's gold chase with their current form. Again, a better management of the talents available to Team Nigeria's coaches should be able to fetch the team three of the relay gold.

Okagbare whose waves in the American NCAA got her rave reviews certainly cannot afford to fail in her specialty, the long jump. She has a season best of 6.88m and it is no secret that if she gets her acts together, the UTEP undergraduate can leap 7m. As Beijing Olympic bronze medalist in the event, Okagbare remains the biggest prospect for the gold and her 6.53m in Lignano, Italy last week just goes to show that with a bigger stake on the card, like this Nairobi Meet, she cannot afford to allow a slip.

However, in the male category of the event, Stanley Gbagbeke has so much to grapple with. Since jumping 8.06m last year, he has been unable to reproduce that form, which leaves the title open for jumpers from other African countries with better jumps.