Favour Ofili has made history by becoming the first Nigerian to advance to the final of the women’s 200 meters at the Olympics in 28 years.
The 21-year-old athlete clocked 22.05 seconds to finish second in heat 1 of the women’s 200 meters semi-final at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
This performance is an improvement from her 22.24-second time in the first round.
Ofili’s achievement is remarkable as it marks Nigeria’s first representation in the final of this event at the Olympics since Mary Onyali in the 1996 Atlanta Games.
Onyali had secured a bronze medal in the final, finishing behind France’s Marie-Jose Perec and Jamaica’s Merlene Ottey.
Born in 2002, Ofili was just a child when Onyali last competed in this event.
In the semi-finals, she was narrowly edged out by Julien Alfre, the reigning women’s 100m Olympics champion, who finished first with 21.98 seconds.
Ofili’s impressive performance placed her ahead of third-placed Makenzie Long from the US.
With the third-best time overall in the semi-finals, Ofili is now a strong contender for a medal in the final, which is scheduled for Wednesday at 8:40 pm.
In wrestling news, Blessing Oborududu has advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s 68kg freestyle.
She triumphed over Canada’s Linda Morais with an 8-2 victory in the first round and then outperformed France’s Koumba Larrouque 6-2 in the quarter-finals.
Oborududu is set to compete against Zhumanazarova Meerim of Azerbaijan in the semi-finals later on Monday.
