Favour Ofili

Favour Chukwuka Ofili (born 31 December 2002)[1] is a Nigerian track and field sprinter. She is the 2019 African Games silver medallist in the 400 metres. Ofili won silver for the 200 metres at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Favour Ofili
Personal information
Full nameFavour Chukwuka Ofili
Born (2002-12-31) 31 December 2002
Port Harcourt, Rivers, Nigeria
Sport
CountryNigeria
SportAthletics
Event(s)Sprints
College teamLSU Lady Tigers (2021)
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Nigeria
Commonwealth Games
Silver medal – second place2022 Birmingham200 m
African Games
Gold medal – first place2019 Rabat4×400 m relay
Silver medal – second place2019 Rabat400 m
World Athletics U20 Championships
Gold medal – first place2021 Nairobi4x400 m relay
Bronze medal – third place2021 Nairobi200 m
Bronze medal – third place2021 Nairobi4x100 m relay
African Youth Games
Gold medal – first place2018 Algiers400 m
African Youth Championships
Gold medal – first place2019 Abidjan400 m
Gold medal – first place2019 Abidjan200 m

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.[2] She also ran 10.93 seconds in the 100 m in April 2022, becoming the first female NCAA athlete to run sub 11s and sub 22s.[3]

Career

Favour Ofili was named the female athlete of the meet at the 2019 African Under-18 Championships after winning the 200 and 400 metres with new personal bests in both.[4] Still 16, she represented her country at the World Relays in Yokohama a month later, running in the 4 × 100 m and 4 × 400 m relays.[5] 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 a month later, finishing second with 51.68 s and qualifying for the World Athletics Championships in Doha.[1] 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.[1][6]

Ofili earned a scholarship at the Louisiana State University.[7] 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.[8] She won bronze in the 200 m and two medals for relays at the World U20 Championships in Nairobi, with her mark in her individual event being the third-fastest ever by a U20 woman.[6]

In February 2022, Ofili bettered her African indoor 200 m record three times, improving it ultimately to 22.46 s.[8] She held the NCAA collegiate record in the outdoor event with her time of 21.96 s set on 15 April that year, until Abby Steiner broke the record two months later. Ofili's mark set at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational in Gainesville, Florida surpassed 14-year-old Blessing Okagbare's Nigerian record and was also an African record at the time.[6]

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.[9]

Achievements

International competitions
Representing  Nigeria
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventTime
2018 African Youth Games Algiers, Algeria 1st 400 m 53.57
Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires, Argentina 10th 400 m tot. 1:53.02
2019 African U18 Championships Abidjan, Ivory Coast 1st 200 m 23.38 CR
1st 400 m 52.28 CR
World Relays Yokohama, Japan 17th (h) 4 × 100 m relay 45.07 SB
18th (h) 4 × 400 m relay 3:32.10 SB
African Games Rabat, Morocco 2nd 400 m 51.68
1st 4 × 400 m relay 3:30.32
World Championships Doha, Qatar 21st (sf) 400 m 52.58
15th (h) 4 × 400 m relay 3:35.90
2021 World U20 Championships Nairobi, Kenya 3rd 200 m 22.23 NU20R
3rd 4 × 100 m relay 43.90 SB
1st 4 × 400 m relay 3:31.46 WU20L
2022 World Championships Eugene, OR, United States 10th (sf) 200 m 22.30
4th 4 × 100 m relay 42.22 AR
Commonwealth Games Birmingham, United Kingdom 2nd 200 m 22.51
1st 4 × 100 m relay 42.10 AR
2023 World Championships Budapest, Hungary 18th (sf) 200 m 22.86
– 4 × 100 m relay DNF

National titles
  • 200 meters: 2019
  • 4 × 400 m relay: 2021
  • 4 × 400 m mixed: 2021

Personal bests

References
  1. "Favour OFILI – Athlete Profile". World Athletics. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  2. Maduewesi, Christopher (6 August 2022). "Favour Ofili bags 200m Commonwealth Games Silver medal!". Making Of Champions. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  3. "Live Track & Field Results | Delta Timing". Athletic Live. DeltaTiming. 30 April 2022. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2022. 1 - Favour Ofili - LSU - 10.93
  4. Olus, Yemi (4 May 2022). "Breaking records is just the starting point for Ofili as she reaches for the stars". World Athletics. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  5. "Nigeria medal hopefuls as Doha World Championships begin". Punch Newspapers. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  6. Watta, Evelyn (16 May 2022). "Meet Nigeria's 'Star Girl' Favour Ofili". Olympics.com. IOC. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  7. "Favour Ofili - 2021 - Track & Field". LSU Tigers. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  8. Philémon (3 March 2022). "200m Indoor: Favour Ofili hits three African records in one month". Sport News Africa. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  9. Sik, Braydin (13 February 2023). "USTFCCCA RANKINGS – February 13, 2023". LSU Athletics. Louisiana State University. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
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