Onwuzurike: Not Yet Where I want to Be Despite Ending Nigeria’s 32-year Medal Drought in 200m

Duro Ikhazuagbe in Glasgow

After he emerged the first Nigerian sprinter to win a Commonwealth Games 200m medal at Glasgow 2026 that ended on Sunday, Udodi Onwuzurike, confirmed that Nigerians are yet to see his best.

 On the final day of the track & field events, the 23-year-old sprinter,  literally flew out of the block from a difficult Lane 8 to race down to a precious silver medal for Team Nigeria with a Season’s Best (SB) of 20.09secs  (+1.7).

Onwuzurike before arriving in Glasgow had signaled what to expect here with his SB of 20.18secs that he ran at the Gyulai István Memorial in Budapest, Hungary. Although it was far below his PB of 19.76, he knew that if he was able to repeat his incredible form at the Games, he was capable of making it to the podium to end Nigeria’s long wait for a 200m medal in the event.

He dug deep into his reserve to power from a fifth position into the silver medal from the Lane 8.

Speaking with THISDAY after the race, an obviously excited Onwuzurike insisted that the race is not his best yet.

“I am not where I want to be right now. I don’t want to down play the silver medal here at the commonwealth Games. I will return home to Florida, (USA) rest for a while and kick off my preparations for the World Championship,” began the new Commonwealth Games silver medalist.

Onwuzurike who just came out of injury that slowed down his progression, remains happy that he has something to show for his outing here in Glasgow.

“It feels so good to win a medal here despite the injury that slowed me down. I really must admit that turning professional has not been easy for me, but its all good.”

On running from Lane 8 at the final, Onwuzurike emphasised that it was not really a problem for him, saying that some other top sprinters have made marks from the lane considered very difficult by track & field aficionados.

“It was not a problem for me, really. Wether you are running from a lane 2 or 5, it is all the same distance. The most important thing is to concentrate, focus on your race and literarily do your own thing without allowing distractions from the rest of the field. I know some persons may be scared, not me.”

Despite running his season’s best time in the 200m in Glasgow, Onwuzurike stressed that it was not enough as he has not able to race well in the 100m that he considers the ultimate event.

“I don’t think I have been able to run at the speed that I want because of the injuries that I had.  So I still have a lot of work to do for me to get to where I want to be.,” concludes Onwuzurike  who finished behind South Africa’s Sinesipho Dambile who took the gold with 19.96secs while Jamaica’s Christopher Taylor (20.11) won the bronze.