Nigerian sprinter, Divine Oduduru, is now officially the second fastest African ever just behind compatriot, Olusoji Fasuba.
Running for Texas Tech, Oduduru achieved this feat at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championships late Friday night winning the 100m in 9.86 seconds in Austin, Texas, tying Noah Lyles and Christian Coleman for the 2019 world lead and coming within .04 secs of Coleman’s collegiate record. It is the fastest ever by an African since Fasugba ran 9.85 seconds 13 years ago in Doha.
The race was also the first time in history where three men ran under 10.00 in the 100m. Cravon Gillespie was second in 9.93 and Japan’s Hakim Sani Brown, a student at the University of Florida, third in 9.97.
Barely forty-five minutes after his heroics in the 100m, Oduduru won the 200 meters in 19.73 seconds to trail Michael Norman and Lyles this year, and also broke the championships record of 19.87.
He became the second Nigerian after Olopade Adeniken (1992), and third African after Frankie Frederick (1991), to successfully complete a sprint double at the NCAA Division 1 Championships.