Favour Ofili is one of Nigeria’s most exciting track sensations and finds a place in history as a record-breaking sprinter. She runs the 100 meters, 200 meters, and 4×100 meters relay and has consistently proven that she can dominate the track. At the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, Ofili made her Olympic debut in the women’s 200m, making it to the preliminary and semi-final rounds with top-three finishes. She then placed an impressive 6th in the Olympic final which is quite an achievement for a first-time Olympian on the biggest stage in sport.

Favour Ofili was born on the 31^st of December 2002, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. She began her athletic career in 2014 as a secondary school student in Delta State. She was identified by her high school coach, Anne Otutu, who recognised her early potential and ensured that she honed her skills before moving to the United States to continue her education and athletic career.

Ofili was already competing at the international level when she was 16, as a representative of Nigeria for the World Relays in Yokahama. She also participated in the 4x100m and 4x400m relays at the African U-18 Championship. Some of her early successes include a gold medal for the 400m at the African Youth Games in Algiers as well as two more golds in the 200m and 400m at the 2019 African Youth Championships in Abidjan. She further solidified her position by winning gold in the 4x400m relay at the African Games.

Favour Ofili’s standout performance at the 2019 World Championships earned her scholarship to the Louisiana State University (LSU). On 27 February 2021, she broke the African indoor 200m record with a time of 22.7 seconds at the SEC Indoor Championship in Fayetteville, Arkansas. That same year, she claimed her second senior medal at the IAAF World Championships in Doha.

Though she had qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Ofili was not able to compete. Nevertheless, she bounced back at the World U20 Championships in Nairobi, claiming bronze in the 200m and gold in the 4 x 400m relay. She also clinched two additional bronze medals in the relay events, with her personal best 200m performance being one of the fastest ever by a U20 athlete.

Ofili continued breaking her own African indoor 200m record in 2022, doing so three times to finish with a best of 22.46 seconds. On April 15, she set a new African and NCAA collegiate outdoor record of 21.96 seconds at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational in Gainesville, Florida. This performance not only shattered Blessing Okagbare’s national record but also established Favour Ofili as the continent’s fastest woman over the distance at that point. Later in that year, she claimed a silver medal in the 200m competition at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, further establishing herself as a sprinting queen.

In 2023, she rewrote history again recording 22.36 seconds in the indoor 200m at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas which was an African record and the second-best time ever achieved by any collegiate athlete. In December of the same year, Ofili graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Sport and Fitness Administration/Management from Louisiana State University and went on to sign a professional deal with Adidas.

Favour Ofili won the 100m national title at the Nigerian Championships in Benin in 2024, coming in 11.06 seconds, one inch in front of Olayinka Olajide and Justina Eyakpobeyan. This victory earned her a spot for the Paris 2024 Olympics, where she competed in the 200m final, coming in 6^th place in 22.24 seconds. She was also on Nigeria’s 4 x 100m relay team that had a season-best time of 42.70 seconds.

Her crowning moment came in 2025 at the Adidas Atlanta City Games, during which she delivered a record-breaking performance for the women’s 150m. Favour Ofili shattered the world record with a staggering time of 15.85 seconds to be the first woman ever to run the event in less than 16 seconds. She shattered the previous record of 16.23 seconds by Olympic gold medallist Shaune Miller-Uibo in 2018.

Her journey from a determined teenager in Port Harcourt to a global sprinting icon is an inspiration to all athletes and sportswomen across the world. She now has a run of national, continental, and world records, yet still keeps breaking barriers and proving African sportsmen and women can compete equally on the global stage. Favour Ofili is now a symbol of resilience, greatness, and excellence today.

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