Nigerian sprinter Favour Ofili started the 2023 season on a bright note after she came first in 22.55secs in the women’s 200m heat at the University of New Mexico Open Classic.
Ofili beat 21-year-old Lucian sprinter Julien Alfred, who returned in a time of 22.56secs to finish second.
The 20-year-old Commonwealth gold medalist also ran in the 60m prelims and came third in 7.25secs, but improved in the final of the event and set a new Season Best of 7.21secs, finishing third, with Alfred winning the race with a Collegiate Record of 7.00secs.
Ofili has a PB of 7.17secs in the event and could run faster than that before the indoor season ends.
The sprinter, a Louisiana State University student, had an outstanding 2022 season and was part of Nigeria’s 4x100m women’s relay side that won gold and set a new African record of 42.10secs at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
She was ranked 14th best after running new national records in the 200m indoors (22.46secs) and outdoor (21.96secs). The LSU student also got big scores for running to the 200m semis at the Oregon World Championships and also for winning the silver medal at the NCAA Outdoor championships (22.05secs) and the Commonwealth Games (22.30secs).
Also at the same event, Nigerian sprinter, Godson Brume, ran to a new Personal Best record of 6.69s to win his qualifying heat in the men’s 60m at the University of New Mexico Open Classic.
The 19-year-old LSU sprinter had earlier equalled his 200m PB of 21.28secs to win his heat.
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