Nigeria’s Favour Ofili will make her long-anticipated debut at the Grand Slam Track league this Friday as she lines up against star-studded athletes in the women’s 100 and 200 metres at the Ansin Sports Complex in Miramar, Florida.
Ofili will contest the second leg of the series launched by four-time Olympic champion Michael Johnson. The Nigerian sprint sensation will compete in both the 100 and 200 metres events as part of the women’s short sprints group, with the 100 metres race scheduled for Friday and the 200 metres event set for midnight on Sunday.
This appearance marks Ofili’s first outing in the Grand Slam Track, a league hailed as the first truly professional series for track athletes. The competition brings together 96 of the world’s top talents across a three-day face-off, with a 100,000 dollars top prize on offer in each event.
Ofili will be the first full-blooded Nigerian to feature in the Grand Slam Track league, following her withdrawal from the opening leg in Kingston, Jamaica earlier this month.
The 200 metres national record holder will be competing this weekend off the back of an encouraging performance at the Tom Jones Invitational in Florida, where she opened her season with a time of 22.34 seconds in the 200 metres to finish second behind Saint Lucian Olympic champion Julien Alfred, who clocked a blistering 21.88 seconds. American sprinter Tamari Davis finished third in 22.37 seconds
Ofili will face a lineup that includes Olympic 200 metres champion Gabby Thomas, Great Britain’s Daryll Neita, American sprinters Brittany Brown, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, Tamari Davis, Jacious Sears and Kayla White.
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Thomas, who competed in the 200m and 400m at the Kingston leg, is expected to be the favourite, having dropped down to the short sprint category this weekend.
League Commissioner Michael Johnson said the event is designed to give athletes more opportunities to compete at the highest level. “Grand Slam Track is the first truly professional track league for track athletes,” he told US Local 10 News. “As opposed to these athletes having to wait every four years for an opportunity to show that they’re the best and compete against the best, we do it four times a year.”
He added that the format compels athletes to test themselves beyond their usual distances, creating more exciting matchups.
“Melissa’s the best 100-metre runner out there, but then she’s got to come over and run the 200, which is her secondary event,” Johnson said. “She may be running against people for whom the 200 is their primary event like this weekend.”
(Editor: Paul Akhagbemhe)
