New Telegraph

Ofili emulates Onyali, wins C’wealth Games 200m silver

 

Charles Ogundiya

Favour Ofili become the third Nigerian woman after Mary Onyali (1994) and Blessing Okagbare (2014) to run in the final of the 200m at the Commonwealth Games and also win a medal after the 19-year-old secured the silver in the final on Saturday at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, England.

Ofili ran 22.51secs to finish second behind Elaine Thompson-Herah of Jamaica while keeping the tradition of making the podium after her predecessors.

In 1994 in Victoria, Canada, Onyali ran 22.35secs but was denied the chance of successfully completing a sprint double by Australia’s Cathy Freeman.

Onyali had to settle for the silver medal but 20 years later, Okagbare was unstoppable as she became the first Nigerian nay African woman to secure the double sprint title at the Games.

In the men’s final, Udodi Onwuzurike could only finish in the sixth position after running a time of 20.76secs in a race won by Jereem Richards of Trinidad and Tobago in a new Commonwealth Games record of 19.80secs.

Ezekiel Nathaniel also failed in the men’s 400m hurdles final, finishing in the sixth position with a time of 51.38secs, likewise Oyesade Olatoye in the women’s hammer final where she finished fourth.

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