Onwuzurike sprints into second straight World Championships’ 200m semifinal

Former NCAA 200m champion and 2021 World U20 champion, Udodi Onwuzurike, has qualified for the semifinal of the half lap event at the ongoing 20th World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan.

The Nigerian ran 20.27 seconds to place second behind USA’s Kenneth Bednarek (19.98) in the third of six first-round heats.

South African Sinesipho Dambile secured the third automatic qualifying spot after returning the same time as the Nigerian, while Canada’s Jerome Blake, who ran 19.95 at the Canadian Championships last month, could only place fifth in 20.43.

Onwuzurike has now qualified for his second straight 200m semifinal after making his debut at the Championships in 2022.

He will be looking to become the fifth Nigerian man to run in the final of the event, and the first since 2003, when Uchenna Emedolu placed eighth in Paris.

The 22-year-old holds a lifetime best of 19.76, which he ran en route to winning the NCAA 200m gold, and a season’s best of 20.17.

The Stanford University graduate may need to break 20 seconds for the fourth time in his career if he hopes to make the final.