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- Nigerian athlete Favour Ashe has qualified for the men's 100m semifinal at Paris 2024 Olympics
- He qualified by the last non-automatic slot despite finishing four in the quarter-final Heat 4
- He will be up against some of the best names in the world, including United States’ Noah Lyles
Nigerian sprinter Favour Ashe has ‘favourably’ qualified for the ongoing Paris 2024 Olympics 100 metres semi-final heat despite missing out on an automatic slot.
Ashe ran 10.16 seconds below his personal best record of 9.96s and missed out on the automatic qualification slot but narrowly made it via the non-automatic slot.
Source: Getty Images
As seen in a post on social media, he beat China’s Xie Zhenye by one-thousandth of a second to seal the spot and keep his dream of reaching an Olympic final alive.
Favour Ashe to race against powerhouses
As noted by Making of Champions, the Nigerian nightmare has been drawn in Heat 1 of the semifinal, which will take place tomorrow, Sunday, August 4, 2024.
He will face powerhouses in that pre-final race, including USA's Noah Lyles, Jamaica's Oblique Seville, Great Britain's Louie Hinchliffe, Cameroon's Emmanuel Eseme and Ghana's Benjamin Azamati.
He joined Kanyinsola Ajayi, who secured an automatic slot in Heat 5 after outpacing Olympic champion Larmont Marcell Jacob to second position with a time of 10.02s.
The finals and semifinals of the races take place tomorrow at the Olympic Village.
The two represent the country's best chance of winning a medal at the ongoing Summer Games after the exclusion of Favour Ofili in the women's 100 metres.
Ofili was not registered by either the Athletics Federation of Nigeria or the Nigerian Olympic Committee for the 100m despite qualifying for the 100m, 200m and 4×100m.
Her omission sparked social media reactions in the country, with many citizens calling out the incompetence of the relevant bodies and demanding severe punishments.
Sports Minister condemns Ofili's omission
Legit.ng reported that Nigeria's Sports Minister, Senator John Enoh, condemned the omission of track star Favour Ofili from the 100-metre event at the 2024 Olympics.
Senator Enoh described it as gross negligence from the relevant bodies, claiming an investigation is ongoing and whoever is responsible will face punishment.
Source: Legit.ng
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