There is much to be done ahead of the 2024 CTFL season, as teams must both cut weak links and draft new talent. Roster changes are bound to have profound impacts on each of the four teams’ performances, but returning athletes will dictate the outcome of the season.

New World Athletics has selected ten athletes that look promising ahead of this season. Some are big names that performed well in the 2023 season, and some flew under the radar but are capable of making waves in their disciplines.

Here is New World Athletics Ones to Watch:

Usheoritse Itsekiri 

Itsekiri spent the last CTFL season as the king of the 100m. Competing as a utility athlete and earning 3647 IAAF points, the Nigerian won 75 points for the Bears, more than any other athlete in the category. The 26-year-old is a four-time national champion and won both silver and bronze medals at the 2019 All-African Games in Rabat, Morocco. 

Last season, Itsekiri’s CTFL marks were 10.05 and two blisteringly fast 10.02 runs, including one at the Bob Vigars Classic in London, Ont. which was the fastest 100m time run on Canadian soil in 2023. 

Itsekiri qualified and competed in the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, bowing out in the semi-finals with a time of 10.19.

Currently ranked 40th in the 100m by World Athletics, Itsekiri is the highest world-ranked athlete in the league. 

Next season

The champion of the utility division last season is now making the jump to become a core athlete in the league. This switch means Itsekiri will attend at least one of the league’s preliminary meets and is now eligible to participate in the CTFL championship.

After recording his personal best in the 100m – 10.02 – in 2019, Itsekiri was unable to recreate that performance for some time. In 2021, the sprinter’s best recorded 100m was 10.07 and in 2022, 10.09. 

In the 2023 season, however, Itsekiri matched his best twice and recorded a 10.03 in the event. Three years after the best performance of his life, Itsekiri looks to be firing on all cylinders once again. If the athlete can continue this form into the CTFL season, there will be no one who can stop him.

With the fastest core athlete of the 2023 season – Brandon Letts – clocking a personal best of 10.22, Itsekiri looks likely to fly during his first season in the division.