Nigerian athlete Favour Ofili broke down in tears on Tuesday after placing sixth in the final of the women’s 200 metres at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The 21-year-old ran 22.24 seconds to finish sixth behind Gabrielle Thomas of the United States, who took the title after clocking 21.83 seconds.
While Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred took the silver medal with 22.08 seconds, and USA’s Brittany Brown completed the podium.
Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith and Daryll Neita finished in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Ofili had qualified for the final with the third-best time overall in the semi-finals.
She became the first Nigerian to compete in the event’s final at the games since Mary Onyali did so in Atlanta ’96.
But Ofili was outraced in the showdown. Although she was off the block sharply after the gun, she faded as the race proceeded into the final 100m.
Journalist Grace Iliya shared a video of the moment Ofili was in tears on social media.
Calling for support for athletes, she said, “Please we need to be there for these athletes always @NigeriaOlympic someone has to always at the mix zone. I was the only one there for #favourofili she tried her best.”
Ofili’s focus will now shift to the women’s 4×100 relay, billed to commence on Thursday.
Ofili could not compete in the 100m because the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) and Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) failed to register her even after she qualified.
At the 2020 Olympics, she did not compete because AFN, National Anti-Doping Committee (NADC) and NOC failed to release funds for athletes in the USA to be tested.
