Yomi Omogbeja (24/06/2005)

The talkpoint of the 16th NNPC/ExxonMobil Nigeria track and field championship will be the expected showdown between in-form Olusoji Fasuba and old-horse Deji Aliu and Uchenna Emedolu.

The three Nigerian sprinters are in the top 20 of the recent (13th June) IAAF world ranking and were part of the Nigerian Bronze winning 4X100m relay quartet at the Athens 2004 Olympics.

Fasuba, 20, is the highest ranked Nigerian at 10th position in the world. The reigning Africa Champion from Brazaville African Athletics Championships in 2004 has been in terrific form this outdoor season.

He sped to a 10.09 clocking to equal his personal best in the 100m at the African Athletics Confederation (AAC) Permit Meeting at Kasarani, Nairobi on 7th May, and returned 10.17 to finished second at the Ostrava Golden Spike meet on 9th June.

He also took a sprint double (10.20 seconds in 100m and 20.62 seconds in 200m) in an earlier AAC meet in Bamako on 6th April.

All-Africa Games (Abuja 2003) winner and former World Junior 100m champion, Deji Aliu, though had not done much this year is ranked 13th in the world.

Aliu showed up at the Ostrava Golden spike with a modest 10.22 seconds finish to place fourth behind Asafa Powell and Fasuba, but on the national stadium track in Abuja he's always at home.

Former world cup winner, Uchenna Emedolu, is ranked 19th in the world and has returned a season's best of 10.15 seconds (Dakar on 3rd April).

He also ran 10.21 seconds to place seventh while Asafa Powell was setting the world 100m record at the Athens Olympic Stadium on 15th June.

University of Texas, El Paso graduate Aaron Egbele, who ran a season's best 10.18 seconds on 8th June in Chania, lowered it further to 10.16 seconds to finish sixth in the same race.

Egbele, so far the revelation of the season, jumped from the 33rd position to the 24th position on the world list in one month.

With four sprinters in the IAAF world best 25 list, and all capable of running sub-10 seconds in good conditions, the 100m final race is sure to produce the fireworks.

The three-day trials, which will be used to select athletes for both the World Athletics Championships 2005 and the Commonwealth Games, Melbourne 2006, starts at the National Stadium Abuja on 7th July.

The sponsors, ExxonMobil is to spend over N4.6m (£21000) on prize money for the athletes for the first time in the history of the competition.

Consultants to the Athletic Federation of Nigeria, (AFN) Messrs Rotimi Obajimi disclosed that event winners are entitled to one hundred thousand Naira and the overall best athlete in the male and female categories will go home with N1 million each.

He said: "We have close to 46 events and winners in each category will cart home N100,000.00 (£400) shared by the three top athletes, N50,000 N30,000, N20,000.

"Besides that there is a One million Naira (£4000) jackpot bonus for the overall best male and female athletes."

However, winning the jackpot prize money depends on the result of the dope test carried out at the championship and meeting the standard set by the AFN and Mobil in the event..