Tag: Nigerian sprinter

Favour Ofili to dump Nigeria for Turkey

Favour Ofili, a Nigerian sprinter, is set to switch international allegiance to Turkey.

TheNewsGuru reports that Ofili’s decision followed years of alleged neglect and administrative failures by the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) and the Nigerian Olympic Committee (NOC).

A major turning point was her highly publicised exclusion from the 100m event at the Paris 2024 Olympics despite having met the qualifying standard.

Reports noted that the AFN and NOC failed to properly enter her name for the event, a devastating repeat of a similar administrative blunder that cost her a spot at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics (held in 2021) where inadequate anti-doping protocols affected 13 other Nigerian athletes.

Ms Ofili, who boasts impressive personal bests of 10.93s in the 100m and 21.96s in the 200m, formally notified the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) of her decision and its reasons. Her frustration was further solidified by the re-election of the same AFN leadership in June 2025, despite the repeated administrative lapses.

The former Louisiana State University (LSU) standout and Adidas-sponsored athlete expressed her disappointment publicly on social media following the Paris Olympics omission, questioning the accountability of national federations. While she later finished sixth in the 200m final in Paris, the overall experience appeared to be a tipping point.

Her switch to Turkey places her among a growing list of Nigerian athletes who have chosen to represent other countries due to perceived lack of support and chronic mismanagement at home. Past examples include Gloria Alozie (who later ran for Spain), Francis Obikwelu (Portugal), and Femi Ogunode (Qatar), who now enjoy considerable successes from their adopted nations.

This latest development serves as a reminder of the ongoing challenges facing Nigerian athletics and raises questions about the need for systemic reforms within the sporting federations. While World Athletics currently still lists Ofili as a Nigerian athlete, her official notification to the AIU marks a significant step in her new trajectory.

She is now expected to observe a mandatory waiting period before competing for Turkey in international competitions, though an exemption may be possible if her case for administrative negligence is strongly argued.

June 22, 2025
Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan shares secrets behind her successful outing in 2022

World 100m hurdles champion and record holder, Tobi Amusan, has shared the secrets behind her successful outing on the track last year.

The 25-year-old hurdler enjoyed a triumphant outing in 2022. She became the first Nigerian world champion in an athletics event, when she won the 2022 World Championships 100m hurdles gold medal and set the current world record of 12.12secs.

She also won the women’s 100 meters hurdles at the Diamond League final in Zurich. Amusan also broke the hurdles record in the semi-finals in 12.12s at the World Athletic Championship.

Sharing her secrets in a chat, the Ogun-born hurdler said she trained hard and prepared herself mentally before any race, noting that it helped her stay focused.

“We put our bodies through six hours of training every day for six days a week. And you can be the fittest person in a race and mentally you just get distracted by the other runners on the tracks. A few moments of that ruin everything. And with my kind of event, you need 100 percent focus,” Amusan said.

“So, the mental part is just as important, if not more, because you have done the work by training hard and now you show up at the track. Sometimes, it’s not about who is the toughest. I have been in every championship finals and it’s not about the toughest, but who wants it and can relax and execute in most of the race scenarios.

“Most times when I train, I do my little talking in my head to prepare myself mentally. What I do in training is what I do on the tracks. So, when you see me out there, I am not crazy, I do this every day, especially when I have lots of hurdle practices.

“I say to myself, ‘you are the best, you have to do it.’ That self-affirmation, like talking in your head, kind of gets you going, but the time you get on the track, I know what to say to calm myself down and not put myself under unnecessary pressure. It’s really important to be mentally tough,” she added.

March 16, 2023
AIU suspends Nigerian sprinter Oduduru for doping, faces possible six-year ban

Nigerian sprinter, Ejowvokoghene Divine Oduduru, has been suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) for Anti-Doping Violations and faces a possible six-year ban.

AIU stated this in a press statement released on Thursday, February 9, 2023, noting that the sprinter has been notified of the suspension.

“The Athletics Integrity Unit has notified Divine Oduduru of two potential Anti-Doping Rule Violations and is seeking a six-year ban against the Nigerian, ” AIU said on its official website.

“The sprinter has been notified of potential ADRVs for possession (Rule 2.6 of the World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules; ADR) and/or use or attempted use of multiple Prohibited Substances (Rule 2.2 ADR). He has been provisionally suspended immediately.”

AIU had in 2022 provisionally suspended Nigerian female sprinter, Grace Nwokocha, over suspected doping.

TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports that the Nigerian sprinter specializes in the 100-meter and 200-meter dash.

He holds personal bests of 9.86 seconds for the 100 m and 19.73 seconds for the 200 m.[10] The latter is a Nigerian national record.

In age category competitions, he was a twice-champion at the African Youth Athletics Championships,[11] a five-time African Junior Champion in the sprints and the 200 m silver medallist at the 2014 World Junior Championships.

He represented Nigeria as a senior athlete at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2014 African Championships in Athletics, before winning a 200 m silver medal at the 2015 African Games.

Oduduru is a two-time Nigerian national champion and is a four-time NCAA champion in American collegiate competition, running for the Texas Tech Red Raiders. He is sponsored by Puma.

He led off the Nigerian 4×100 metres relay team at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, a team supported by former American athletes, Monzavous Edwards and Mark Jelks, who were running for Nigeria in their first international relay.

Due to illness, he pulled out of the 2015 Nigerian Championships and could not defend his 200 m title. He, however, bounced back for the All-Africa Games in Brazzaville.

Oduduru ran a PB of 20.45 s into a headwind of 1.2 m/s to win the silver medal behind Ivorian sprinter, Hua Wilfried Koffi.

His team mate and 2015 Nigerian champion Tega Odele placed third. Oduduru was selected for the 200 m at the 2016 African Championships in Durban. After posting the second-fastest time in the semifinals, he did not run in the finals due to injury.

At the 2018 Michael Johnson Invitational meet in Waco, Texas, Divine improved his personal best in the 100 m to 10.10 s, improving the Texas Tech school record by 0.01 s.

A year later at the same meet he improved his personal bests and set world-leading times of 9.94 s and 19.76 s, in the 100 m and 200 m respectively.^[7] His time in the 200 m broke the national record of 19.84 s set by Francis Obikwelu in 1999.

During 2019, he focused mainly on collegiate competition. He set a personal best in the 60-meter dash at the 2019 Big 12 Indoor Championships, running 6.52 seconds for the distance to win the regional title. He also won the 200 m Big 12 Indoor title.

At the 2019 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships he won the 200 m title and placed seventh in the 60 m final. At the Big 12 Outdoor Championships, he won the 100 m in 9.99 seconds, having broken the 10-second barrier for the first time at the earlier Michael Johnson Invitational meet.

He also helped the Texas Tech Red Raiders to the 4 × 100 m relay title. At the 2019 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships, he won a sprint double in the 100 m and 200 m, as well as taking third in the 4 × 100 m relay.

His 100 m time of 9.86 seconds was the fastest in the world at that point of the season, and his 200 m time of 19.73 seconds was a championships record.

Oduduru made his debut on the 2019 IAAF Diamond League circuit at the 2019 Herculis meet but finished in last place.

February 9, 2023