Nigerian duo qualify for Olympics with new school records

Two Nigerian athletes, Ella Onojuvwevwo and Samuel Ogazi- at the weekend punched their ticket to the Olympic Games in Paris, and they did it in style, breaking their School Records while competing at the SEC Outdoor Championships in Florida, USA

Ella Onojuvwevwo booked her place in Paris on Saturday after running 50.57secs to finish second in the women’s 400m heat.

The Louisiana State University student beat the Olympic qualifying standard of 51.00secs and also broke the school’s 27-year record.

Her time is the fastest by any Nigerian woman in over two decades since Falilat Ogunkoya’s 50.50secs semi-final run at the 2001 IAAF World Championships in Edmonton, Canada.

Onojuvwevwo proved her incredible 50.57 run in the full lap race was not a fluke after she posted another sub-51 seconds performance (50.86) in the final, though it was only good enough for an eighth-place finish.

It is worth noting that 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.

Also at the event in Florida, reigning African U18 200m and 400m champion Samuel Ogazi, elite list of Nigerian athletes to run sub-45 seconds in the 400m event Saturday night.

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The 17-year-old posted an impressive time of 44.58 seconds, which is the second-fastest time in the NCAA this season and a new school record

Aside from qualifying for the Olympic Games with his remarkable time, the University of Alabama undergraduate student has also become the African U18 record holder with his spectacular run.

There was also more to celebrate for Nigeria on Saturday as Godson Oghenebrume successfully defended his SEC Outdoor Championships in Florida with a time 9.99s to book his ticket to the Paris Olympics.

The trio of Onojuvwevwo, Ogazi and Oghenebrume now join the growing list of Nigerian athletes who have secured automatic qualification for various individual events at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

Others include Tobi Amusan (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)

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