Udodi is better suited for 200m, says father

• Advises AFN on how to get relay tickets

United States-based athletics coach, Chris Onwuzurike, whose son, Udodi, is one of Nigeria’s brightest hopes for medals at this year’s World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, has said his son will do better in 200 metres than 100 metres. He adds, however, that he will allow the athlete to decide, which event to feature between the two.

Two years ago at the World U-20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya, Udodi emerged as one of the country’s biggest stars, grabbing the 200m gold for Team Nigeria in a sensational way. And on Wednesday, Udodi soared in the latest rankings released by World Athletics from 25th last year to 2nd best this year, after he won the NCAA 200m title, and running inside 200m thrice in under one month.

His 19.76 seconds finish in the semifinals saw the 20-year-old sprinter move to No 2 in the Nigerian all-time best list in the event behind Divine Oduduru (19.73 seconds).

Udodi also ran a new lifetime best of 9.92 seconds in the 100m en route the final at the NCAA event last week in the United States.

Speaking with The Guardian from his base in the United States, yesterday, coach Onwuzurike stated that it might be counterproductive for him to choose for his son the event to feature at the World Championships in Budapest.

“Udodi has qualified for the World Championships in both the 100m and 200m. If I had my way, he would concentrate on 200m, because as a coach, I feel he has more prospects of making it to the final and even winning a medal for Nigeria. But I will allow him to choose for himself.”

“I don’t want a repeat of what happened to him last year when he competed in both the 100m and 200m events and got burnt out. Udodi has the talent to become world champion and we are working towards it. But we have to be careful about it. I travelled with him all around the world alongside his coach to ensure he gets it right,” he stated.

On how Nigeria can get the qualification tickets in the 4x100m (male and female), 4x400m (male and female) and the 400m (mixed relay) without spending too much money, coach Onwuzurike said: “I think the best way out is for the AFN to open a camp for U.S.-based athletes here to participate in relay events. The best Nigerian sprinters and 400m runners at the moment are here, and it will save our country more money and time to operate a camp here.

“Bringing all the athletes to Nigeria like we did last year will not only consume money, but will burn them out due to long travel. They can qualify here before coming to Nigeria for other formalities. That is the practice in other countries. The government should help the AFN in the area of funding for it to concentrate in preparing the athletes.”