Favour Ofili yesterday ran 21.96 seconds to set a new national women’s 200m record at the 2022 Tom Jones Memorial Classic in the United States (US).
Ofili, who was among the nine Nigerian athletes disqualified from competing at the Tokyo Olympics for failure to comply with the Out of the Competition Testing (OCT) requirement, smashed Blessing Okagbare’s 22.04 seconds set in 2018.
Ofili, a native of Onicha-Ugbo, Delta State, represented Team Delta, where she dominated the track and field event at the National Youth Games in Ilorin, Kwara State.
Ofili, who also qualified for the 100m final yesterday, was advised to rest and concentrate on the 4×100 relay final by her coach.
Speaking with The Guardian yesterday, the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) President, Tonobok Okowa, said: “Ofili has made us proud and the entire board congratulates her. She has maintained a steady rise in athletics since she was included in the team at the National Youth Games in Ilorin.
“I am sure she will write Nigeria’s name in gold at the African championship in Mauritius, the World Championship in Oregon and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.”
AFN’s Technical Director, Samuel Onikeku, said: “I saw Ofili at the World U20 Championship in Nairobi last year and I knew she will go places. But I never knew it was going to be very fast. We might see the best of Ofili at the World Athletics Championship in Oregon and the Commonwealth in July”.
Also, AFN’s Performance Director, Victor Okorie, commenting on the performance of Ofili, commended the upcoming athlete for her feat, saying that she has shown again to the entire world that the country has great potential in athletics. (Guardian)