Nigeria's Ofili, two others, qualify for 2025 World Athletics Championships

Posted : 21 April 2025

Three Nigerian athletes — Favour Ofili, Kanyinsola Ajayi, and Tima Godbless — have secured qualification for the 2025 World Athletics Championships, set to take place in Tokyo, Japan, this August.

Ofili, competing at the Tom Jones Memorial in Gainesville, Florida, finished second in the women’s 200m with a time of 22.34 seconds, trailing only reigning Olympic 100m champion Julien Alfred, who clocked 21.88 seconds.

The performance marks a strong start to her 2025 campaign and secures her place at the World Championships.

The Louisiana State University sprinter ended last season with a season’s best of 22.05 seconds, improving on her 22.11 indoor mark from 2023. Notably, she made history in 2022 as the first Nigerian woman to run under 22 seconds, recording a personal best of 21.96 seconds.

At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Ofili reached the semifinals of the women’s 200m but did not compete in the 100m. She now looks forward to another global stage in Tokyo.

Also in Gainesville, rising star Kanyinsola Ajayi broke the 10-second barrier in the men’s 100m, clocking a lifetime best of 9.96 seconds to win the event.

His blistering performance makes him the 11th Nigerian man to achieve a sub-10 finish and the first male sprinter from Nigeria to qualify for the 2025 World Championships in the 100m.

Ajayi’s explosive form has been evident since last month, when he equaled the longstanding 60m national record of 6.48 seconds, previously held by Deji Aliu since 1999. Unlike Aliu, who took four years after his 6.48 to dip under 10 seconds, Ajayi accomplished the feat in just over a month.

In the women’s 200m invitational, 20-year-old Tima Godbless also booked her ticket to Tokyo, running a personal best of 22.55 seconds (-0.3 m/s) to meet the World Championships qualifying standard of 22.57 seconds.

A day later, she ran into a stiff headwind (-2.4 m/s) but still managed an impressive 11.14 seconds in the 100m.

Godbless, a sophomore at LSU, now joins Ofili as the second Nigerian woman to qualify for the 200m event at the 2025 Championships.

Elsewhere in Gainesville, Nigerian athletes continued to shine. Israel Okon, a standout for Auburn University, ran a personal best of 10.07 seconds to finish sixth overall in the men’s 100m. Earlier this year, Okon set a new African U-20 record in the 60m with a 6.51-second run.

Adekalu Fakorede, who led the Nigerian 100m rankings before the weekend with a 10.11 mark, finished 19th overall with a 10.39-second performance.

In the men’s 200m, former World U-20 champion Udodi Onwuzurike clocked 20.50 seconds to take second place behind reigning African champion Joseph Fahnbulleh of Liberia, who won in 20.07 seconds.

With these results, Nigerian athletics appears to be on an upward trajectory as athletes gear up for what promises to be a thrilling 2025 World Championships in Tokyo.

Nigeria's Ofili, two others, qualify for 2025 World Athletics Championships

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