… we registered Ofili for 100m, AFN insists
The Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) has stated that it cannot explain why Favour Ofili, the women’s 100m national champion, is missing from the women’s 100m event entry list for the Paris Olympics.
The AFN insists that she was registered for the 100m, 200m, and women’s 4x100m relay.
Ofili raised concerns on Tuesday night, accusing the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) and the AFN for not registering her for the 100m event.
“It is with great regret that I have just been told I will not be competing in the 100 meters at this Olympic Games. I qualified, but those with the AFN and NOC failed to enter me. I have worked for 4 years to earn this opportunity. For what,” she lamented.
Samuel Onikeku, the Technical Director of the AFN, expressed that the federation is as surprised as Ofili about the situation.
“We registered Ofili for the 100m, 200m, and the 4x100m relay. We don’t know how her name got missing in the 100m. This is our stand as a federation,” Onikeku stated via AFN media.
However, a review of the entry list published by World Athletics confirms that Ofili will compete in the 200m and the women’s 4x100m relay.
Ofili qualified for the women’s 100m during the AFN National Trials at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City in June, where she achieved a personal best of 11.06 seconds to secure her first national title.
In April, she also met the Olympic qualifying mark for the 200m with a time of 22.33 seconds at the Tom Jones Memorial Classic.
The athletics events at the Paris Games will begin on Thursday, starting with the men’s 20km race walk. The first round of the women’s 100m, which Ofili has raised concerns about, is scheduled to start on Friday.
