Nigeria’s quarter-miler, Ella Onojuvwevwo, became the latest Nigerian track and field athlete to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics on Saturday after running 50.57secs to finish second in the women’s 400m heat at the SEC Outdoor Championships in Florida, USA, in the early hours of Saturday.
The LSU student beat the Olympic qualifying standard of 51.00secs and also broke the school’s 27-year record, the fastest by any Nigerian woman since Falilat Ogunkoya’s 50.50secs semi-final run at the 2001 IAAF World Championships in Edmonton, Canada.
Onojuvwevwo was part of Nigeria’s mixed 4x400m relay team that booked their spot at the Paris Olympics in the Bahamas last Sunday, running the second leg.
She becomes the ninth Nigerian athlete to automatically qualify for the Olympics, joining Tobi Amusan (women’s 100m hurdles), Udodi Onwuzurike (men’s 200m), Edose Ibadin (men’s 800m), Ruth Usoro (women’s long jump), Chukwuebuka Enekwechi (men’s shot put), Favour Ashe (men’s 100m), Favour Ofili (women’s 200m), and Ezekiel Nathaniel (men’s 400m hurdles).
Other Nigerians who qualified for the final of their events at the ongoing SEC are: Favour Ashe of Auburn University, who won his heat in 10.13 seconds; Godson Brume of LSU, who won his heat with a season-best time of 10.05 seconds, the fastest in the heats; Kanyinsola Ajayi, also of Auburn, who won his heat with a personal best time of 10.13secs; the University of Alabama’s Samuel Ogazi, who won his 400m heat in 45.49secs, and LSU’s Tima Godbless, who made it to the final of the women’s 100m with a time of 11.32 seconds, one of the best times in the heats.
Opeyemi Oke of Auburn University failed to make it to the final of the women’s 400m, running a personal best time of 53.22secs in her heat.
