The Nigerian athletics team is now racing against the clock to reach the World Relays in China after the seven runners who were denied visas have been cleared.

Nigeria’s National Sports Commission (NSC) released a statement confirming that the athletes have been cleared. “In a surprising turn of events, the Chinese embassy approved the visas for Team Nigeria,” the NCS said.

On Thursday, the African athletics powerhouse withdrew from the 2025 World Athletics Relays after the Chinese embassy denied their US-based athletes visas.

But now things have changed, and the Nigerian team is caught up in a last-minute effort to reach China in time.

The World Relays is a major championship scheduled to take place in Ghangzhou from May 10-11, and it brings together the world’s best relay teams competing for slots to automatically qualify for the World Championships in Tokyo this summer.

According to the list released by the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), 17 athletes were to represent the country in four events: Men’s 4x100m relay, Women’s 4x100m relay, Mixed 4x100m relay, and Mixed 4x400m relay.