Nigeria’s Favour Ofili qualified for the final of the 200m of the Paris 2024 Olympics, running the third fastest time in the three semi-finals held Monday evening.
Ofili finished second in her own heat, running a season’s best time of 22.05s, behind 100m Olympic champion Julien Afred who won in 21.98s.
Heavy favourites for the Olympic gold medal, USA’s Gabby Thomas ran the fastest time in qualifying for the final, winning her semi-final in 21.86s ahead of Great Britain’s Dina Asher Smith, who sealed the other automatic qualifying spot in second with a time of 22.32s.
In the third semi-final, USA’s Britanny Brown won in 22.12s ahead of Great Britain’s Daryll Neita who placed second in 22.24s.
The two non-automatic qualifiers were USA’s Mckenzie Long, third in Ofii’s semi-final with a time of 22.30s and Ivory Coast’s Gbai Jessika, third in semi-final 3 in 22.36s.
Ofili became the first Nigerian to qualify for the 200m final at the Olympics since Mary Onyali at the Atlanta 1996 Olympics. She will also be hoping to replicate or better Onyali’s bronze-winning feat when she steps out for the final Tuesday evening.
The semi-final is billed for 8:40pm Nigerian time on Tuesday.
