‘Everybody knows him as ‘Lightning’ Divine, that’s who he is,’ says Nkiruka Iheme, mother of Divine Iheme

All eyes will be on 14 year old Divine Iheme at the British U15 and U17 Open track and field championships this weekend at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham as the British-Nigerian seeks to write his name in the record books as the world U15 100m record holder.

Son of two former Nigerian track and field athletes, Nkiruka Anu and Innocent Iheme, Divine is trying project the family name way beyond the very little height his parents took it to.

Trained by his mother, Divine has been singled out as a potential track and field star of the future and Mrs Iheme is convinced his son is destined for greatness.

‘Everybody knows him as ‘Lightning’ Divine, that’s who he is,” Mrs Iheme told Sky Sports.

Mrs Iheme also refereed to his son as a teenage sprint sensation especially after he set United Kingdom’s best times for the 100m and 200m in April.

Divine is set to prove everyone, including his mother right this weekend in Birmingham.

“He looks at the record and says, ‘I want to beat that. He says his target is to beat the world junior U15 [record].

“The world junior record is 10.51 and he’s run three times 10.46, but because the wind was 0.2 it’s not legal, so he has the capacity to do that,’ said Mrs Iheme in the interview with Sky Sports.

The mother, who runs the PWD Athletic Academy in England and was born in August 1985, made it to the final of the 100m event at the Nigerian Athletics Championships in 2002 but placed sixth in the race won by Mercy Nku, is confident her son will break the World U15 record.

“The speed he has now if you are trying to put it into perspective. If he continues like this, we are looking at him to end his season with 10.4, 10.3 [seconds], because he has got everything. The speed is there. The technique is there.

“He looks at many other athletes and says, ‘I want to beat that person,’ and he looks at records and says, ‘I want to beat that,’ said Mrs Iheme.