With a season-best time of 22.05 seconds, Favour Ofili of Team Nigeria made history on Monday night by qualifying for the women’s 200-meter final at the ongoing 2024 Olympic Games at the Stade de France in Paris. She is the first Nigerian to reach this milestone since Mary Onyali raced to the final of the women’s 200-meter event at the Atlanta ’96 games in the United States. Favour Ofili will join seven other athletes in the event’s final on Tuesday evening. The Nigerian athlete is the lowest on the list with a world ranking of 31 and a personal best of 21.96.
Alfred had in the semi-finals a time of 21.98 and Gabrielle Thomas of the U.S. had 21.86 in winning heat 2 of the semi-finals.
Born six years after Onyali achieved the feat in 2002, Ofili will be aiming to better her compatriot’s bronze-winning run.
Ofili’s groundbreaking race came after she was omitted from the 100m race owing to administrative lapse.