Ofili favoured to make Nigeria’s first Olympic 200m final in 28 years

Favour Ofili will is favoured to pick one of the two automatic tickets on offer for the final of the 200m when the semifinals hold Monday evening at the Stade de France stadium in Saint-Dennis, Paris.

The 21 year old Nigerian has been drawn in the first semifinal of the evening and will battle two athletes who have ran faster than she has this season, reigning Olympic 100m champion, Julien Alfred who is gunning for a sprint double and USA’s Mckenzie Lond.

Both athletes have broken 22 seconds this year with Alfred having a 21.86 personal season’s best while Mckenzie, the USA 200m champion has ran faster. She holds a 21.83 lifetime best to win the American title in Oregon in June.

Also lurking somewhere looking for a chance to surprise is Great Britain’s Bianca Williams who holds a personal season’s best of 22.60.

Interestingly, Ofili has competed against all three before Monday’s race and holds a balanced head to head record against two of the three favourites.

While the Nigerian is yet to beat Alfred in any race over 100m and 200m, she has a 2-2 record with Mckenzie in the 200m and 1-1 with Williams, also in the 200m.

Ofili is looking to become the first Nigerian after Mary Onyali to run in the final of the event. Onyali remains the only Nigerian to run in the 200m final at the Olympocs and also the only one to make it to the podium.

Her 22.24 run in the first round is the second fastest time ran by a Nigerian in the history of the event at the Olympics, bettered only by Onyali’s 22.16 run that make way for her to mount the podium in Atlanata in 1996.