Nigerian sprinters Favour Ofili and Alaba Akintola will be in action later tonight, August 24, as they seek to lead the country to the final of the women’s and men’s 200-meter events respectively.
At 7:03 p.m. WAT, Ofili, 20, will be up against Ivory Coast’s Marie-Josée Ta Lou, African champion Gina Bass of the Gambia, Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson, and USA’s Sha’Carri Richardson in the third Women’s 200-meter semi-final.
While at 7:29 p.m. WAT, Akintola will be up against Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo and USA’s Kenneth Bednarek in the second Men’s 200-meter semi-final.
If they scale through, Ofili and Akintola will battle it out in the women’s and men’s final respectively on Friday, August 25.
How Ofili and Akintola Qualified For the Semi-finals at the 2023 World Athletics Championship
Favour Ofili and Alaba Akintola booked their place in their women’s and men’s 200-meter on Wednesday, August 23, respectively.
The African indoor record holder, Ofili finished fourth in 22.66secs in the first of six heats which earned her a non-automatic ticket to the semi-final.
Antonique Strachan of the Bahamas won the race in 22.31secs, Great Britain’s Daryl Neita finished second in 22.39secs, and Spain’s Jaël Bestué finished third in 22.58secs.
As for Akintola, he earned an automatic ticket to the men’s semi-final event after finishing fourth initially in 20.54secs.
Fortunately, he moved to third after France’s Ryan Zeke who finished third was disqualified for a bad start.
