Favour Ofili smashed Blessing Okagbare’s Nigerian 200 metres national record of 22.04, that had stood since 2018, on Friday night at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational in Gainesville, Florida.
A sophomore at the Louisiana State University (LSU) in the United States, Favour Ofili, posted a world leading time of 21.96 seconds at the James G. Pressly Stadium to break the NCAA (collegiate) record of 20.02 set by Florida’s Kyra Jefferson at the 2017 NCAA championships.
The 19-year-old became only the second woman in African history to go sub-22 seconds in the 200 metres, joining Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medalist Christine Mboma of Namibia, who has a personal-best time of 21.78.
“My body felt great going into the race,” Ofili said after her record setting performance.
“Coach [Dennis] Shaver told me before the race to just ‘Stay relaxed and execute the race plan’, and that’s what I did.
“I can’t really recall too much of the race because it was such a blur, but I knew I was the first to cross the finish line by a wide margin.
“When I saw the time, I was very happy and excited because it was an expectation that came to pass on God’s word proclaimed in my life. I give all the credit and glory to God,” she added.
Meet The Authors
Motunde is the associate editor and social media manager at Athletics Africa. A track junkie and digital editor with an eye for little details.
