Nigeria’s national champion in the women’s 100-metre sprint, Favour Ofili, will not compete at the Paris Olympics due to what she describes as a monumental clerical error by her country’s track federation. Despite working for four years towards this goal, Ofili announced on social media that she will not be competing in the 100 meters at the Olympic Games because the Nigerian Olympic Committee (NOC) failed to enter her into the race on time.
Ofili expressed her frustration on social media, saying, “I have worked for four years to earn this opportunity. For what…to not be entered and compete at the Olympic Games because the responsible organization [the Nigerian Olympic Committee] failed to enter me.”
The women’s 100-meter preliminaries begin on Friday, marking the start of the Olympic track events. Ofili, who won Nigeria’s national title in June with a time of 11.06 seconds, has a personal best of 10.93 seconds, which would have made her a strong contender for the finals in Paris. She is still entered in the 200 meters and the 4×100 relay.
According to the Olympic news service, Ofili also missed the Tokyo Games due to Nigeria’s failure to meet minimum testing requirements for several athletes, as mandated by track and field’s Athletics Integrity Unit.
In a furious message on Instagram, Ofili criticized the NOC and the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, stating, “If those responsible are NOT held accountable for taking this opportunity from me, neither organization can EVER be trusted in the future!”
Nigeria’s sports minister, John Enoh, responded by stating that he had been assured by the athletics federation officials that Ofili had been included in the registration forms for the 100, 200, and 4×100 meters events, and these forms had been passed on to the NOC for submission. Enoh is awaiting an explanation from the head of the NOC regarding why she was left out of the 100 meters event.
This is not the first time Nigerian athletes have faced similar issues. At the 2019 World Championships, a paperwork mix-up nearly disqualified Divine Oduduru and Blessing Okagbare, who were only allowed to compete after appealing to World Athletics. Additionally, hammer thrower Annette Echikunwoke missed the Tokyo Olympics due to the same drug-testing issue that affected Ofili.
By Ebubedike Ochu
