TEAM Nigeria star Favour Ofili shook off her 100m disappointment to cruise into the women’s 200m semi-finals of the Paris 2024 Olympics today.
The 21-year-old sprinter was inexplicably left out of the shorter sprint despite having qualified, but she was up for the 200m today.
Ofili won heat 6 of the first round comfortably, clocking 22.24 seconds and defeating Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith, who was second in 22.28s, and Gina Bass-Bittaye of The Gambia (third in 22.84s).
Overall, Ofili’s time was the second fastest among the qualifiers for the semi-finals, with only United States of America’s Gabby Thomas ahead of her with 22.20s.
Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred, who won her country’s first-ever Olympic medal with the 100m gold last night, qualified with 22.41s from heat 1, while British star Daryll Neita clocked 22.39s in heat 3.
Meanwhile, Shericka Jackson has withdrawn from the women’s 200m, the event in which she was one of the favourites after winning the World Athletics Championship title back-to-back in Eugene in 2022 and in Budapest last year.
Jackson becomes the second Jamaican to pull out of a big race in Paris after Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce withdrew from the 100m yesterday.
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