Favour Chukwuka Ofili (born 31 December 2002) is a Nigerian

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

sprinter who competes in the

100 meters The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

200 meters The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

, and 4x100 meters relay races. Ofili made her Olympic debut for women's 200m on 4 August 2024 at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

in Paris. In

200m The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

, She remains in top 3 overall for both preliminary and semi-final rounds, finishes 6th in her Olympic-Final debut as a first-time Olympian. She is the

2019 African Games The 12th African Games (), also known as Rabat 2019 (), were held from 19 to 31 August 2019 in Rabat, Morocco. This was the first time that the African Games were hosted by Morocco following the country's readmission to the African Union in Janua ...

silver medallist in the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

. Ofili won silver for the

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

at the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England betw ...

. She was the 2021 World Under-20 Championship bronze medallist in the 200 m. Ofili is the African indoor record holder in the event and holds Nigerian record (also at U20 level) over the distance with a time of 21.96 seconds, making her the first Nigerian woman in history (and second African woman) to break the 22-second barrier. She also ran 10.93 seconds in the

100 m The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

in April 2022, becoming the first female

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

athlete to run sub 11s and sub 22s.

Career

Early career

Favour Ofili Began athletics in 2014. She was just a high school student in

Delta State Delta is a States of Nigeria, state in the South South (Nigeria), South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Named after the Niger Delta—a large part of which is in the state—the state was formed from the former Bendel State, on 27 August 1 ...

, southern Nigeria, with nothing to her name except a firm belief in her talent, ignited in her by her high school coach, Anne Otutu."Coach Anne Otutu saw me and said I'll be good and I was just this little girl and I'm like OK, 'let's give it a try, I want to see what I can do'. But I didn't know that I am going to do well in it until I made my first African international competition team." She trained in

Port Harcourt Port Harcourt (Pidgin: ''Po-ta-kot or Pi-ta-kwa)'' is the capital and largest city of Rivers State in Nigeria. It is the fifth most populous city in Nigeria after Lagos, Kano, Ibadan and Benin. It lies along the Bonny River and is locate ...

with coach George Obiano until she moved to the United States.

2019

Favour Ofili was named the female athlete of the meet at the 2019 African Under-18 Championships after winning the

200 Year 200 ( CC) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Victorinus (or, less frequently, year 953 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 200 for this y ...

and

with new personal bests in both. Still 16, she represented her country at the

World Relays The World Athletics Relays, known as the ''IAAF World Relays'' until 2019, is an international biennial track and field sporting event held by World Athletics where teams from around the world compete in relay races, some of which are not part o ...

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

a month later, running in the 4 × 100 m and 4 × 400 m relays. She won the 200 m and finished second behind Patience George in the 400 m at the Nigerian Championships in July, running under 52 seconds at the longer event for the first time. Ofili bettered this mark at the

African Games The African Games, formally known as the All-Africa Games or the Pan African Games, are a continental multi-sport event held every four years, organized by the African Union with the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa and the ...

a month later, finishing second with 51.68 s and qualifying for the

World Athletics Championships The World Athletics Championships, known as the IAAF World Championships in Athletics until 2019, are a biennial sport of athletics, athletics competition organized by World Athletics, formerly International Association of Athletics Federations ...

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

. She also anchored the Nigerian team (Kemi Francis, Patience George and Blessing Oladoye) to a gold medal in the women's 4 x 400 m relay at the Games. This secured a second senior medal for the young athlete. As the youngest athlete at the World Championships in September, she improved her 400 m personal best to 51.51 s but was eliminated in the semi-finals.

2020–2021

Ofili earned a scholarship at the

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

(USA) in 2020, after her performance at the 2019 World Championships, which caught the attention of sprint coach Dennis Shaver, who becomes her personal coach. On 27 February 2021, she set an African indoor record in the 200 m with a time of 22.75 s at the SEC Indoor Championship in

Fayetteville, Arkansas Fayetteville ( ) is the List of cities and towns in Arkansas, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Arkansas, the county seat of Washington County, Arkansas, Washington County, and the most populous city in Northwest Arkansas. The city ...

. Missing out on

Tokyo 2020 The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

despite qualified for

, Ofili was ruled out of Tokyo 2020 after arriving in Japan because the Nigerian federation had failed to ensure they met the minimum drug-testing requirements for 10 of its athletes. She was able to find some comfort at the World U20 Championships a few weeks later in

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

, where she won bronze in the 200 m and two medals for relays, with her mark in her individual event being the third-fastest ever by a U20 woman. Ofili claims that The World U20 championships was a miracle competition for her. Going into the competition, she was not physically or mentally OK because of what happened with her place on the Olympic team. She went to Nairobi to have fun and, to her greatest surprise, it turned out to be great. She learned a lot from that competition and it helped changed her mindset.

2022

In February 2022, Ofili outdid her African indoor 200 m record three times, improving it ultimately to 22.46 s. She held the

collegiate record in the outdoor event with her time of 21.96 s set on 15 April that year, until

Abby Steiner Abby Kathryn Steiner (born November 24, 1999) is an American track and field sprinter. She is the U.S. indoor record holder in the 200 m and 300 m, and the NCAA record holder in the 200 m. Steiner holds personal bests of 10.9 ...

broke the record two months later. Ofili's mark set at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational in

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, United States, and the most populous city in North Central Florida, with a population of 145,212 in 2022. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gainesv ...

surpassed 14-year-old

Blessing Okagbare Blessing Oghnewresem Okagbare-Otegheri (born 9 October 1988) is a former Nigerian track and field athlete who specialized in long jump and sprints. She is an Olympic and World Championships medallist in the long jump and a world medalist in t ...

's Nigerian record and was also an African record at the time.

2023

She became also the second-fastest indoor 200 m runner in collegiate history (after Steiner) in February 2023, setting even better African indoor record of 22.36 s at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas. In December 2023, Ofili graduated with a bachelor's degree in Sport and Fitness Administration/Management from

(USA). Ofili signed a professional contract with

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...

after she left the college scene.

2024 Paris Olympics

Ofili made her Olympic final debut in the

at the Paris 2024 games finishing in 6th position with a time of 22.24 seconds Ofili was also part of Nigerian team in the relay where they achieved a season-best time of 42.70s, but did not proceed past the heats. Ofili should have participated in the

event, however due to administrative errors by the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, her name was not submitted and she was unable to take part. After an investigation that took place after the games, it was recommended that Ofili should be compenstated ₦8,000,000 for "the disappointment and depression she experienced due to her omission from the event." After the Olympics, the Athletics Federation of Nigeria accused Ofili of being an uncontrollable athlete after rumours of her changing her nationality surfaced online.

2024

Statistics

Circuit performances

International competitions

¹Did not start in the semifinals

National titles

* 200 meters: 2019 * 4 × 400 m relay: 2021 * 4 × 400 m mixed: 2021

Personal bests

60 metres 60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At indoor events, the 60 metres is run on lanes set out in the mi ...

indoor – 7.15 (

Fayetteville, AR Fayetteville ( ) is the List of cities and towns in Arkansas, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Arkansas, the county seat of Washington County, Arkansas, Washington County, and the most populous city in Northwest Arkansas. The city ...

2023) *

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

– 10.93 (+2.0 m/s,

Baton Rouge, LA Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

2022) *

– 21.96 (+1.3 m/s,

Gainesville, FL Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, United States, and the most populous city in North Central Florida, with a population of 145,212 in 2022. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area with a populati ...

2022) * 200 metres U20 – 22.23 (+1.1 m/s,

2021) ** 200 metres indoor – 22.11 (

Albuquerque, NM Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County. Founded in 1706 as ' by Santa Fe de Nuevo México gover ...

2023) *

– 51.49 (

2021)

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ofili, Favour 2002 births Living people African Games gold medalists for Nigeria African Games gold medalists in athletics (track and field) African Games silver medalists for Nigeria African Games silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2019 African Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 African Youth Games Nigerian female sprinters LSU Lady Tigers track and field athletes Sportspeople from Port Harcourt University of Port Harcourt alumni 21st-century Nigerian sportswomen Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Nigeria Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Nigeria Athletes (track and field) at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Nigeria Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in athletics