Nigerian athlete, Favour Ofili, has broken Blessing Okagbare’s 200 metres National Record at Tom Jones Memorial Classic 2022.
Okagbare previously held the National Record since 2018 with a time of 22.04 seconds.
However, Ofili ran a blistering 21.96 secs to also become the first collegian athlete to ever go sub 22 secs.
With the time, she also emerged as the first Nigerian female to break 22secs in the women’s 200m.
She has set a new National Record, NCAA Record. Her time is also the fastest in the world this year, the fastest ever in the NCAA and a new School Record.
On Friday, Favour Ofili powered to World Lead of 21.96s (1.3) to take the women’s 200m at the Tom Jones Invitational in Florida, ahead of Kamaya Debose-Epps who ran 22.81secs and Jonah Ross in 22.91secs.
“My body felt great going into the race,” Ofili said after her record setting performance. “Coach {Dennis} Shaver told me before the race to just ‘Stay relaxed and execute the race plan’, and that’s what I did.”
She expressed;
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.
Ofili is a Nigerian track and field athlete specialising in the 200 metres and 400 metres sprints.
She is the 2019 African Games silver medalist in the 400 metres. She is also the 2019 African Youth Champion in the 200 and 400 metres.
