Nigeria’s Favour Ofili was in tears after she stormed to the final of the 200m race in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Ofili qualified for the final after picking up the second automatic spot in the race on Monday, reigniting Nigeria’s hopes for a medal at the Games.
She finished with a season’s best of 22.05s, falling behind St Lucia’s Julien Alfred – the 100m champion – who crossed the line in a time of 21.98s. The United States Mary Long was in third, finishing in 22:30s.
Ofili is the first Nigerian to reach the milestone since Mary Onyali raced to the final of the women’s 200m event at the Atlanta ’96 games in the US.
Born in 2002 – about six years after Onyali achieved the feat – Ofili will be aiming to better her compatriot’s bronze-winning run. The final is billed for Wednesday by 8:40 pm.
The athlete’s groundbreaking race came after she was omitted from the 100m race owing to administrative lapses.
Meanwhile, Blessing Oborududu has made the semi-finals of the 68kg women’s freestyle wrestling.
Oborududu defeated Linda Morais of Canada in the first round 8-2. Thereafter, she saw off France’s Koumba Larrouque in the quarter-final 6-2.
The Nigerian will now face Azerbaijan’s Zhumanazarova Meerim later on Monday.
