Crimson Tide Invitational: Ogazi runs 20.71 lifetime best in 200m, Idamadudu beats Oke in women’s 400m

Samuel Ogazi sped to a new 20.71 lifetime best to win the first heat of the 200m event at the Crimson Tide Invitational in Tuscaloosa, Alabama on Saturday.

The Nigerian has been in a rich vein of form of late after running a new 45.35 personal best to set a new Nigeria U18 400m record last week.

Ogazi’s time is the fastest by a Nigerian U18 so far this year and second fastest of all-time behind the 20.58 ran by Musibau Adebisi at the National Sports
Festival in Asaba, Delta state in 2022.

It is also the second fastest in the world so far this term by an U18 athlete after the 20.60 ran by Gary Card early this month.

The University of Alabama freshman won the 200m event in the overall classification and is now the 11th fastest Nigerian U20 in the event, supplanting
Abdulahi Tetengi who ran 20.72 in 1988 in Korea.

In the women’s 400m, Cumberland University’s Praise Idamadudu ran 52.46, her second fastest 400m time ever to win ahead of former reigning African U20
champion and Auburn University’s Opeyemi Oke who ran 53.70 while another Nigerian, Ifunanya Muoghalu, also of Cumberland University ran 5542 to finish
eighth.