Nigerian sprinter Favour Ofili has successfully qualified for the semifinals of the women’s 200 meters at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The 21-year-old athlete finished first in heat six of the qualification round on Sunday at the Stade de France, clocking a time of 22.24 seconds.
UK’s Dina Asher-Smith secured second place with a time of 22.51 seconds, followed by Gambia’s Gina Bass in third. Ofili’s impressive performance ranked her as the second fastest overall in the qualification phase, just behind Gabrielle Thomas of the US, who recorded a time of 22.20 seconds in the second heat.
Ofili is scheduled to compete in the semifinal heat at 8 PM on Monday. Her qualification comes amid controversy surrounding her exclusion from Team Nigeria’s women’s 100m roster. Ofili has publicly criticized the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) and the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) for failing to register her for the event, claiming they “took this opportunity from me” and expressing distrust in both organizations moving forward.
Favour Ofili qualifies for the semi-final of women’s 200m, winning her heat with a time of 22.24s at the ongoing Olympics game after being denied participation in the 100m race.#Paris2024 #Olympics #KrowdNaija pic.twitter.com/4xpwlMVNkS
— Krowd Naija (@krowdnaija) August 4, 2024
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