Paris 2024: Nigeria's Ofili Qualifies for 200m Semis

Favour Ofili

Favour Ofili Makes 200m Semis Cut

Favour Ofili books semi-final berth in 200m at Paris 2024...

Nigerian sprinter Favour Ofili secures spot in 200m semi-finals at Paris 2024.

Favour Ofili delivered a blistering performance, clocking a season's best of 22.24s to dominate heat 6 of the women's 200m event.

With this impressive win, Ofili secured her spot in the semi-finals, outpacing notable competitors, including Great Britain's Dina Asher-Smith and Gambia's Gina Bass-Bittaye, to advance to the next round.

The 21-year-old sprinter was excluded from the 100m competition at the Paris Olympics because of administrative oversights by the Athletics Federation of Nigeria and the Nigerian Olympic Committee.

Ofili took to Twitter on Tuesday to vent her frustration, questioning the integrity of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria and the Nigerian Olympic Committee, and demanding accountability for the missed opportunity.

Her post read, “It is with great regret that I have just been told I will not be competing in the 100 metres at this Olympic Games. I qualified, but those with the AFN and NOC failed to enter me. I have worked for four years to earn this opportunity. For what?”

In response to Ofili's exclusion, Sports Minister John Owan Enoh announced that he would investigate the circumstances surrounding her omission from the 100m Women's event.

Enoh later clarified that Ofili's situation was not unique, stating that athletes from other countries faced similar issues, implying that the problem might be more widespread than initially thought.

“I have been duly informed that some other countries have similar issues, and these aforementioned bodies do not want to open a floodgate that would become difficult to manage. Howbeit, I am not concerned about other countries. My interest is with my own country Nigeria and who is responsible for the nonlisting of Favor Ofili,” he said.

“Furthermore, I have been briefed that World Athletics submitted, that when the final list was published in July by it, AFN should have called its attention to the omission of Favor Ofili's name. This still doesn't address the issue. At what point did her name drop out of the 100m race? Who's responsible for this? What's the motivation behind this? What's the trail of communication from AFN to NOC and to IOC and/or World Athletics?”