Tom Jones Memorial Classic 2024: Ofili and Amusan return to venue of historic moment; Ashe in 100m showdown with Ogehenebrume

Sprinter Favour Ofili and sprint hurdler Tobiloba Amusan will lead a number of Nigerian athletes to the Tom Jones Memorial Classic 2024 which holds this
weekend at the Percy Beard Track in Gainesville, Florida.

Ofili will be competing in the 200m event for the first time this outdoor season while Amusan will b running in the 100m flat as she prepares for the opening
leg of the 2024 Diamond League season next week in Xiamen, China.

All eyes will however be on Ofili following her impressive, albeit wind-aided 10.85 over the 100m event at the end of last month to confirm her readiness
for the outdoor season as a professional athlete out of collegiate commitments.

The 21 year old is running her first 200m race on the same track she made history almost two years ago when she sped to a 21.96 Nigerian record.

It was the first time a Nigerian woman would dipped inside 22 seconds and Ofili will be hoping she can deliver another big performance to lay down a marker
for the Olympics in Paris, France this summer.

Amusan will be keen to go faster than the 11.10 lifetime best she ran over the distance on the same track almost a year ago.

The former World 100m hurdles champion may be seeking to become the seventh Nigerian woman to break 11 seconds in the event.

Also expected to turn heads is former Nigeria sprint king, Favour Ashe who scorched to a 9.99 world lead in the 100m at the Pepsi Florida Relays.

Ashe, 21, will be competing in the blue ribband event and has been drawn in the first heat with Louisiana State University, LSU’s Godson Oghenebrume while
Kanyinsola Ajayi will run in the third heat.

Both Ashe and Oghenebrume took the NCAA by storm last June with both running lifetime best of 9.96 and 9.90 respectively in the 100m event.

Both are tied 5-5 in head-to-head clashes with Ogehenebrume winning the last two encounters at the SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships in May 2023 and at the final of the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships the following month where the LSU man scroched to a 9.90 finish to finish second with Ashe running 10.02 to end up eighth.

Baylor University’s Ezekiel Nathaniel is also listed to compete in the 400m hurdles alongside his school mates, Abasiono Akpan who will be competing in the
women’s 400m hurdles and Imaobong Nse Uko who will be running in the 400m event with LSU’s Ella Onojuvwevwo.

Sprinter Rosemary Chukwuma has also been listed to compete in the women’s 100m with schoolmate, Success Umukoro as well as Tima Godbless of LSU.