Favour Ofili has broken the national record for the women’s
200 metres race as she finished first at the Tom Jones Memorial in James G.
Pressly Stadium, Gainesville, Florida.
The 19-year-old dipped a sensational 21.96 seconds on the
blue track on Friday to retire Blessing Okagbare’s 22.04s which was achieved at
the Wes Kittley Invitational in 2018.
Alongside the national record, Ofili also became the first
Nigerian woman to run under 22 seconds in a 200 metres race — only the second
woman in African history.
Louisiana State University (LSU) undergraduate also shattered
the US collegiate record, leapfrogging the 22.02 set by Florida’s Kyra
Jefferson at the 2017 NCAA Championships.
Kamaya Debose-Epps finished second in 22.81 seconds, while
Nigeria’s Grace Nwokocha placed third, dipping at 22.89s.
Speaking after her record-making performance, Ofili said:
“My body felt great going into the race. 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.”
The teenager is specialised in both 200 and 400-metre races.
She won silver in 400 metres race of the 2019 African Games. She is also the
2019 African youth champion in the 200 and 400 metres.
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