Unfortunately, Team Nigeria’s quest for a medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games was thwarted on Tuesday night due to the underwhelming performances of Favour Ofili in the women’s 200m final and Blessing Oborududu in the women’s 68kg freestyle wrestling bronze medal match.
In the 200m final, Ofili finished in sixth place with a time of 22.24s, while USA’s Gabby Thomas clinched the gold with a time of 21.83s.
Julie Alfred, the new women’s 100m champion, secured second place with a time of 22.08s, followed by American Brittany Brown in third with a time of 22.20s.
Despite running a new season’s best of 22.05s in the semi-finals to qualify for the final, 21-year-old Ofili fell short of securing a medal in the event. She had surpassed her previous time of 22.24s from the heats on Sunday.
Ofili made history by becoming the first Nigerian woman in 28 years to reach the final of the 200m at the Olympics since Mary Onyali achieved the feat at the Atlanta 1996 Games, where she won a bronze medal.
Meanwhile, at the Champ de Mars arena, Oborududu suffered a 0-3 defeat in the women’s 68 kg freestyle wrestling bronze medal match against Japan’s Nonoka Ozaki.
Oborududu, who previously won a silver medal at the Tokyo 2020 Games, was defeated narrowly in the semi-finals by Kyrgyzstan’s Meerim Zhumanazarova with a score of 1-3 on Monday night.
With Team Nigeria still empty-handed at the Paris Games, their hopes now rely on Tobi Amusan, the women’s 100m hurdles record holder, who commences her campaign today in athletics alongside other disciplines such as weightlifting and wrestling.