Favour Ofili, a Nigerian sprinter, has made it to the women’s 200m final at the Paris Olympics. She earned her spot in the final by securing the second automatic position in the race on Monday, August 5, 2024, reviving Nigeria’s chances for a medal at the Games.
Ofili achieved her season’s best of 22.05s, finishing second behind St Lucia’s Julien Alfred, the 100m champion, who clocked 21.98s. Mary Long from the United States secured third place with a time of 22.30s. Her impressive performance earned her an automatic spot in the finals.
Ofili’s achievement marks a historic milestone as she becomes the first Nigerian to qualify for the women’s 200-meter final event since Mary Onyali at the Atlanta ’96 games in the US.
Born in 2002, around six years after Onyali’s accomplishment, Ofili will strive to surpass her compatriot’s bronze-medal performance. The final is scheduled for Wednesday, August 7, 2024, at 8:40 pm.
Oborududu to compete for bronze medal in wrestling
Blessing Oborududu, world number 6 and Tokyo 2020 Olympics silver medallist, will compete for bronze after losing to Meerim Zhumanazarova of Kyrgyzstan 1-3 in her bid to book a place in the final.
Oborududu had defeated Canada’s Linda Morais for a quarterfinals round 8-2 spot before knocking out France’s Koumba Larrouque, ranked World No. 3 wrestler, in the quarterfinals 6-2.
The Minister of Sports Development, John Enoh, had urged Blessing Oborududu to give her all and secure the gold for Nigeria in the Women’s Wrestling competition at the current 2024 Olympic Games. Still, she was knocked out of the competition by Zhumanazarova in a match set on the same day as the semi-finals.
Olympics updates for Nigeria
Onojuvwevwo & Elo-Joseph fight to qualify in women’s 400m race
Ella Onojuvwevwo and Esther Elo-Joseph are set to compete in the Repechage rounds on Tuesday, striving to advance to the semifinals. Onojuvwevwo placed sixth in heat 3 of the women’s 400m, while Elo-Joseph finished seventh in her heat.
Nigeria women athletes set for long jump event
Pristina Ochonogor will compete for Nigeria in the women’s long jump event in the Group B qualifying stage.
Ruth Usoro will also represent Nigeria in the women’s long jump event in the Group A qualifying stage.
Canoe duo set for Olympics qualifiers
Teammates Beauty Otudeo and Ayomide Bello, who won the women’s C2 500m event at the Canoe Sprint African Paris 2024 Qualifier in Nigeria, are scheduled for the Olympics C2 500m Heat against five other countries.
