Ashe, Onwuzurike, other sprinters seek repeat of 2023 historic feat

With the outdoor athletics season in full swing, the Nigerian trio of Favour Ashe, Udodi Onwuzurike and Godson Oghenebrume will be keen to repeat the history they made on the track last year when, for the first time in history, three Nigerian sprinters broke 10 seconds in the 100m event.

The best Nigerians have ever had were two men running inside 10 seconds in a single season as seen in 1992 by Davidson Ezinwa (9.96) and Olopade Adeniken (9.97). The duo also made it in 1994 (9.94) and (9.95) respectively.

The feat was achieved in 2003 by Deji Aliu (9.95) and Uchenna Emedolu (9.97), while Divine Oduduru (9.86) and Raymond Ekevwo (9.96) reached that level in 2019.

All eyes will be on the trio now when they seek to equal their record as they also go head-to-head for honours. Ashe, the 2022 Nigeria 100m champion, has already laid down the gauntlet, running inside the mark in 100m twice this year, surpassing his record of 2022 and 2023 when he legally ran sub-10 seconds just once each.

The Auburn University undergraduate student will be looking to extend that personal record of two sub-10 seconds in a season as he eyes a place in the 100m final at the Olympics.

The 21-year-old will also be seeking to get the better of the duo of Oghenebrume and Onwuzurike, whom he has tied on head-to-head confrontations since they both ran into national and collegiate prominence in 2022.

According tosportsNow.com, Ashe is tied 5-5 on head-to-head clashes with Oghenebrume with the Louisiana State University undergraduate student winning their last two confrontations last year.

He is also tied 1-1 with Onwuzurike with the latter winning at the NCAA Division 1 final last season to avenge his loss at the Nigerian Championships in 2022.

Oghenebrume is yet to break 10 seconds this year after he legally did so twice last year, running a 9.90 lifetime best to not only win the 100m silver at the NCAA Division Final, but also ran himself into the history book as the third fastest Nigerian ever in the blue ribband event.He has, however, broken 10.20 twice this year and will be hoping to get past his lifetime best at some stage in the season to become the third Nigerian to break 9.90 in the event after Olusoji Fasuba (9.85) and Oduduru (9.86).

Onwuzurike on his part is yet to race in the 100m event but sounded a warning of his intent in the 200m when he scorched to a 20.13 finish at the PURE Athletics Elite Invitational in Clermont, Florida last weekend.

Onwuzurike, the 2021 World U20 200m champion, like Oghenebrume, legally ran inside 10 seconds last season, setting a lifetime best of 9.92 which catapulted him to joint number four in the Nigerian all-time list with Seun Ogunkoya.

Onwuzurike has played second fiddle to Oghenebrume in their three head-to-head clashes since 2022 and the Stanford University graduate will be keen to close the gap while focusing on running in his first Olympics in Paris.

Athletics observers are predicting the trio will help the nation’s 4x100m team to win Nigeria’s third men’s 4x100m medal after Olusoji Fasuba, Uchenna Emedolu, Aaron Egbele and Deji Aliu finished third in 2004 in Athens, Greece.