Omwuzurike predicts bright future for Nigerian athletics

Chris Onwuzurike, the father of Nigerian sprinter Udodi Onwuzurike, is impressed by the standard of the AFN National Trials at Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City and believes the country will start dominating world athletics in the next three years.

The proud father, who is also in Benin City to witness what is generally termed the Nigerian Olympics, made this assertion after his Michigan-born, United States-born son, who specialises in the 200m, ran the fastest time in the men’s 200m, winning the first heat in a time of 20.68s on Tuesday morning.

He said, “The future holds a lot of significance with what is going on and the excitement that is being created, as we can see at the trials. More people, children, and kids are coming back home to participate in the event.

“If I were to judge what the future would hold in the next three to five years, if these energies are well harnessed, I see Nigeria competing well with the US and Jamaica in this athletics.

“We have a lot of athletes coming up, and the key is to really harness it well. The challenge is for AFN and the country to make sure we harness this. A lot of our children locally and also the foreign-born are beginning to identify with what we do here, and they are coming.

“He is very ready, and you have to understand the challenges that he is going through this year, coming out of college, changing coaches, and he was also injured.

“He just started running about a month ago, so he is trying to catch up. Most athletes don’t really get to the level that he is with all the challenges that he’s been confronting, changing coaches, and coming out of almost 11 months of injury. I’m glad to see him running, and we look forward to seeing him on the podium for the 200-metre race.”

Udodi, who was the gold medalist at the World Athletics U-20 Championships in 2021, competes collegiately for Stanford University and is an alumnus of Brother Rice High School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.