Onwuzurike, Ashe Headline 100m Field in France

Nigerian sprinters Udodi Onwuzurike and reigning national champion Favour Ashe are set to headline the men’s 100m event at the Meeting Stanislas in Nancy, France, a World Athletics Continental Tour Silver competition scheduled for Friday.

Onwuzurike, who recently clocked a season’s best of 20.18 in Zagreb, will be competing in his first 100m race of 2026 at the meeting.

The 22-year-old holds a lifetime best of 9.92 seconds and is one of only two athletes in the lineup to have broken the 10-second barrier in the blue riband event.

Joining him is Ashe, fresh off his second Nigerian Championships title in agos, where he ran a new lifetime best of 9.93 seconds.

He is the only sprinter in the field to have dipped under 10 seconds this year.

However, Ashe’s participation remains uncertain as he was present in Abuja on Thursday for Team Nigeria’s official send-off by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ahead of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow later this month.

The rivalry between the two Nigerians adds intrigue to the event.

Onwuzurike and Ashe have met twice over the 100m distance, with each claiming one victory in their head-to-head clashes.

Their potential showdown in Nancy promises to be one of the highlights of the Continental Tour Silver meet.