Seye Ogunlewe retains 100m title & qualifies for Rio Olympics at Nigerian Trials

For Seye Ogunlewe it will be a National Championships to remember as he powered to a Personal Best of 10.12s to retain his 100m national title and also meeting the Olympic qualification time at the Nigerian Olympic trials held in Sapele, Delta State.

There were fears that Ogunlewe might not be able to meet the qualifying time of 10.16s, because of the wet track caused by the heavy downpour after the semis. Ogunlewe won the first semifinal matching his previous PB of 10.18s, and it was a race he executed with ease, initially looking like a missed opportunity when it started raining.

However, he defied the weather and chased glory, pushing himself harder to cross the finish line and take victory with Divine Oduduru hot on his heels. Oduduru on his part finished 2nd in 10.25s with Ogho-Oghene Egwero placing 3rd in a time of 10.37s

Ogunlewe will be delighted how far he has come having finished 2nd at the 2014 National Championships and now winning back to back titles since then. He is the fastest male Nigerian 100m sprinter this year, and will be hoping for a good outing in Brazil.

After winning the men’s 100m title, Ogunlewe still competed in one of the two finals in the 200m and won the race with a time of 21.28s.

Oduduru on his part will have mixed joy, not qualifying in the men’s 100m but meeting the 200m qualifying mark since last year when he won Bronze at the African Games in Congo Brazzaville.

With Nigeria yet to qualify for the men’s 4x100m relays, the trio of Ogunlewe, Oduduru and Egwero is expected to team up at the Warri Relays to seek qualification time.