Revealed: Ofili’s 11.22 100m time is fastest opening round time by a Nigerian woman at African Championships in 10 years

Favour Ofili’s 11.22 seconds run to win her opening round heat at the 23rd African Athletics Championships is the fastest opening round run by a Nigerian in all conditions since 2002 in Rades, Tunisia where Endurance Ojokolo ran a wind-aided 11.21 to cruise into the semifinals.

It is also the fastest time recorded by a Nigerian woman in the entire Championships since 2014 when Blessing Okagbare ran 11.00 seconds to set a Championships record on her way to winning her second 100m title at the Championships.

Ofili’s time in Douala, Cameroon, was not the fastest on the day as Marie Jose Ta Lou-Smith, the 2018 champion cruised almost effortlessly to a 10.14 finish ahead of Nigeria’s Rosemary Chukwuma to win the heat.

The third Nigerian in the first round, Olayinka Olajide also made it to her first semifinal in her debut in the Championships. She ran 11.67 to win her heat.

Ofili and Chukwuma carry the hopes of millions of Nigerians who are expecting a Nigerian to be crowned African champion for the first time since Okagbare won in 2014 in Marrakech, Morocco.