Duro Ikhazuagbe
Favour Ofili became the third Nigerian woman after Mary Onyali (1994) and Blessing Okagbare (2014) to win a medal in the 200m at the Commonwealth Games.
The 19-year-old ran 22.51 seconds last night at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham to place second behind Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah (22.02) .
The Jamaican’s winning time was new Game’s record. The Tokyo Olympics double sprint champion was favorite to make it sprint double at this edition after winning the 100m earlier.
Namibia’s Tokyo Olympics 200m silver medalist, Christine Mboma finished third in 22.80 seconds.
Ofili’s silver medal win is the second of such medal Nigeria has won in the event after Mary Onyali who ran 22.35 seconds to place second behind Australia’s Cathy Freeman in 1994.
Nigeria’s record in the event now reads one gold after Blessing Okagbare’s 22.25 seconds blistering run eight years ago in Glasgow, Scotland and two silver medals.
Interestingly the three Nigerians that have qualified to run in the final of the half lap event have ended on the podium.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s 28-year wait for a men’s 200m medal has been extended to 32 after former World U20 champion, Udodi Onwuzurike could only finish in sixth place (20.76s) in the final of the event Saturday evening.
Onwuzurike had made history as the first Nigerian since 2006 (16 years) to run in the final of the event.
The last time Nigeria mounted the podium for a 200m medal at the Games was in 1994 in Victoria, Canada where Daniel Effiong was presented a bronze medal for finishing third (20.40s) behind Namibia’s Frankie Fredericks who ran a new 19.97 seconds Games record to win the gold while England’s John Regis won the silver medal.
David Ejoke won Nigeria’s first medal in the event in 1966 albeit he ran over 220 yards at the time.
In the women’s 100m hurdles, Tobi Amusan will be aiming to make it icing on her cake winning the Commonwealth Games gold barely a month after setting a new world record at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, USA.
Amusan will also be targetting the 12.65 Games record set in 2006 by Jamaica’s Brigitte Foster-Hylton after a 2.4m/s tail wind rendered the 12.40 seconds she ran in the semifinals untenable.
The 25-year-old is also going to make history as the second sprint hurdler in Games history after Australia’s Sally Pearson (2010 and 2014) to successfully defend the event’s title if she wins this evening.
She will join Blessing Okagbare as only the second Nigerian track and field athlete to win two gold medals at the Games and the first to win gold at two (successive) Commonwealth Games.
The petite athlete will also become the first Nigerian athlete to win gold at the African Championships, the Commonwealth Games and the World Championships in the same year.
World Championships silver medalist, Ese Brume, will reclaim the long jump title she relinquished without a fight four years ago in the Gold Coast, Australia.
The 26-year-old was not in Australia to defend the long jump gold she won eight years ago in Glasgow, Scotland as an U20 athlete.
Brume has won medals at the two major World Athletics events, the indoor and the outdoor championships, won at the Commonwealth Games and also at the Olympics. She also won at the African Championships and the African Games.
The African record holder will also be seeking to break the 6.97m Games record set in 2006 by Australia’s Bronwyn Thompson.
If she wins today, Brume will become the second Nigerian athlete after Okagbare (or third if Amusan wins the 100m hurdles some 10 hours earlier) to win two gold medals at the Games.
Nigeria’s 4x100m relay will be making history as the first women’s relay team to win the Commonwealth Games gold medal.
The quartet of Joy Udo-Gabriel, Favour Ofili, Rosemary Chukwuma and Grace Nzubechi Nwokocha moved a step closer to making the history after sealing a place in Sunday’s final on Saturday in the semifinals.
