Ofili: ‘Let’s go to Paris and have fun’

After running a personal season’s best of 11.06 and the second fastest winning time in the 100m in Nigerian Championships history after Blessing Okagbare’s 11.03 record, Favour Ofili has shifted her focus to the Paris Olympics where she is hoping to spring a surprise and make history.

The 21 year old won her first 100m title at the Nigerian Championships and also secured, in the process, her ticket to run in the blue ribband event at the Games.

The pretty sprinter has thus qualified to run in both sprint events (100m and 200m) and making the podium in her debut at the quadrennial event will be her ultimate aim.

Nigeria has never won any medal in the women’s 100m final at the Games while Mary Onyali won the country’s half lap medal (a bronze) in 1996 in Atlanta.

If Ofili manages to make the podium in both, she will become the first Nigerian to win a medal not only in the 100m event but also in both sprint events at the same time.

Ofili is however not letting the pressure get into her head as she told the media, as reported by the Punch newspaper, after her victory at the Nigerian Championships in Benin city, Edo state on Sunday night after the race.

‘I am healthy, and when I am healthy, God can use me to do anything. Let’s go to Paris and have fun. Naija no dey carry last.

‘This is my second year of doing the sprints, and I still have a lot to learn. It doesn’t happen overnight; it’s still a work in progress.

‘The way I am going, it’s a good path, and I must thank my coach for being patient with me. Like you know, I am very stubborn.

‘So he is very patient with me, telling me, This is your second year of being a sprinter; don’t think too much; take 100 metres at a time, and that is what I am doing,’ she was quoted to have said.

Athletics watchers believe the Nigerian has a better chance of winning a medal in the 200m after making history as the first Nigerian to break 22 seconds outdoor (21.96) and 23 seconds indoors (22.11).

Her 35.99 run over 300m which is a Nigerian record and the 16.30 seconds African record she set in the 150m event at the Atlanta City Games last month show she is not going to make up the numbers in Paris.

Her recent, wind-aided 10.78 and 10.85 runs in the 100m event means she cannot be written off as far as making the podium goes in Paris.