Onwuzurike Sets New Record in Men’s 200m

Udodi Chudi Onwuzurike has set a new championships record in the men’s 200m with a time of 20.13 seconds to become the sixth Nigerian to qualify for the half lap final at the World Athletics U20 Championships.

Accompanied by his father to the ongoing World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya, Onwuzurike left no one in doubt about his mission to Nairobi which is to succeed Francis Obikwelu as the next Nigerian World U20 champion in the 200m.

In the semifinal, the high school graduate stormed to a personal best of 20.13 seconds, the fastest 200m time ever witnessed in the history of the championships and a new Nigerian U20 record to qualify for today’s final.

Standing between Onwuzurike and a second World U20 200m gold 25 years after Obikwelu won in Sydney are two Africans, Bostwana’s reigning World U20 100m champion, Leslie Tebogo who ran a new 20.31 personal best to qualify for the final and Uganda’s Tarsis Orogot who scorched to a new 20.37 national record in the semifinal.

Interestingly, all Nigerian athletes who have made the final of the event ended up at the podium starting with Olapade Adeniken who won a silver medal (20.88s) in 1988 in Sudbury, Canada. He was followed by Davidson Ezinwa two years later in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.