August 03, (THEWILL) – Nigeria’s only contender for medals in the men’s 200m event of the Olympics currently underway in Tokyo, Japan, Divine Oduduru, kept his chances for the final open with a second place finish in heat 1 of Tuesday’s races, crossing the finishing line in 20.36s.
Although that time was short of his personal best of 19.73s, it is consoling for the athlete who lost his chance to keep Nigeria competitive in the 100m sprint last week after he was disqualified as penalty for a false start.
The pain of missing out on that category must have fuelled him to push himself through the 200m heat and book his place in the semi-final race which is billed for a 12:50pm slot. With his forte in the 200m range, the 24-year-old was ranked second in the world ahead of the Olympics.
If he can manage to make the semi-final close to that 19.73s time range of his personal best, accounting for wind conditions and the mental balance while avoiding making any more false starts, Oduduru is well placed to enter the finals and go all the way to a podium finish.
He will have to be at his best to contend against a field brimming with opponents with better times than his best, such as the pair of world champion Noah Lyles, whose 19.50s time tops Oduduru’s and the South African time of 19.69 held by Clarence Munyai.
Yet, Oduduru remains a 200m favourite in his second Olympics. He is aiming to do one better than he managed in Brazil at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro five years ago when he competed in the same heat against Jamaican legend Usain Bolt in both the first round and the semi-finals where he lost out.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
