All eyes, at least in Nigeria, would be on Divine Oduduru when the men’s 200m at the ongoing Olympic Games in Rio takes off on Tuesday, August 16.
Over the years, Oduduru has carved a niche for himself and has won numerous fans and admirers, considering that he is a delight to watch any day. His passion is unmistakable and optimism, unshakable.
In the last few days, an interview he granted at the 2015 African Games in Brazzaville resurfaced on social media. Oduduru had been asked how he hoped to beat then African Champion Hua Wilfried Koffi in the 200m final and this was his response:
“I don’t care even if Usain Bolt is in the race. It’s not our business. All that we are here for is to run, so when the race kicks off and the gun goes off, whoever gets to the finish line first wins the race.” He went on to take Silver behind the Ivoirian in a Personal Best (PB) of 20.45s, which qualified him for the Olympics.
Oduduru has been very active this year, clocking a Personal Best (PB) of 10.23s in the 100m heats at the National Championships, before finishing 2nd in the final behind Seye Ogunlewe. He went on to regain his 200m title in 20.51s.
Reporters swarmed around the newly crowned champion, expecting him to launch into one his entertaining remarks or theatrics, but instead, he granted an explosive interview, appealing to the President and corporate organisations to help rescue Nigeria Track and Field from impending doom.
This video is truly truly heartbreaking. What do you intend to do about this @MBuhari ??? (via @MakingOfChamps) pic.twitter.com/htnC6WjXas
— Lillian Djokovic (@LillzOK) July 11, 2016
The interview practically broke the internet, and that was all the nudging Union Bank needed just like the proverbial white knight, to swoop in to save the day. Less than a month later, Oduduru was unveiled alongside four other athletes as Union Bank Ambassadors to the Rio 2016 Olympics, an exciting development no doubt for Oduduru who ‘never experred it’!
As he gets set to compete in Brazil, the Nigerian knows that he likely needs to lower his PB in order to get to the semis of the Games. And if he wants to get to the final, he would need to run the first sub-20s of his career!
Incidentally, only one Nigerian man has gone under 20s, talking about Francis Obikwelu whose time of 19.84s (set in 1999 before he started competing for Portugal), remains the National Record (NR) in the event.
Joining him on the all-time (Nigerian) list are Daniel Effiong – 20.10 (1994); Olapade Adeniken – 20.11 (1992); Oluyemi Kayode (RIP) – 20.22 (1992); Davidson Ezinwa – 20.25 (1992), and Deji Aliu – 20.25 (2002).
Nigeria’s best performance in the 200m at the Olympics was in Barcelona ’92 where Olapade Adeniken and Oluyemi Kayode got to the final of the event, finishing 5th and 7th respectively.
Oduduru has come a long way since his exploits at youth level, especially his outing at the IAAF World Youth Championships in Donetsk where the world got its first dose of Oduduru via his famous “I never experred it” interview, which went viral.
He has since sprinted his way into Nigerian Athletics history after setting a scorching though wind-aided time of 20.25s to win Silver at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Oregon, becoming the first Nigerian to run that fast since Deji Aliu clocked 20.25s in 2002!
It is interesting to note that no Nigerian male sprinter has ever won an Olympic medal in the 200m. When asked about his chances in Rio, Oduduru said: “I know I will return with victory. I am a kind of human being that anywhere I am, I won’t give up. I believe that at the Olympics I will better my time and come back with something better.”
Well, it will be great for Oduduru to at least return with a PB from Rio, after which he can then tell us how he never ‘experred’ it!”
