Paris 2024: Ofili cruises into 200m semi-final

Queen of the track, Favour Ofili, now has her sights set on Monday’s semi-finals and a potential place on the podium after she cruised to a comfortable win in her heat on Sunday.

The Nigerian sprinter began her Olympic debut in style with an impressive performance in the 200m, crossing the finish line in 22.24 seconds to claim the top spot.

Unperturbed by the controversy that saw her miss the 100m at the ongoing Games in Paris, France, Ofili outpaced Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith, who finished second in 22.28 seconds, while Gina Bass-Bittaye settled for third place in 22.84 seconds.

With this dominant display, Ofili will now focus on Monday’s semi-final and potential final races, aiming to prove why she should have been included in the 100m.

Although Ofili’s winning time was only surpassed by American Gabby Thomas, who ran the fastest time of 22.20 seconds in heat 2, establishing herself as the favourite to win the 200m title, Julien Alfred (22.41 seconds) and Daryll Neita (22.39 seconds), who emerged victorious in heat 1 and heat 3 respectively, the feeling among commentators is that the Nigerian female sprint queen stands a good chance of claiming a place on the podium.

With Shericka Jackson and Ta Lou withdrawing from the competition and Ofili’s convincing win over Asher-Smith, analysts believe she has a strong chance of winning a medal.

Only Gabby Thomas and Julien Alfred are believed to pose major threats. Many will be happy to see Ofili put behind her unfortunate exclusion from the 100m event, a development Nigeria’s Sports Minister John Owan Enoh has vowed to investigate and punish the erring officials.