The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Divine Oduduru

  • Poor Appreciation: Oduduru hints of showdown Ahead Rabat 2019

    Current Fastest Man in Nigeria Divine Oduduru Wednesday condemned poor treatment of athletes in the country especially non footballers hinting of a possible showdown with government ahead of 2019 African Games in Rabat Morocco.

    Oduduru who only recently ran 100m in 9.94s at the Michael Johnson Invitational to emerge Nigeria and Africa’s fastest man opined that only footballers get reasonable recognition for representing the country while other athletes are treated more like second class citizen.

    Treating athletes who win laurel for Nigerian equally he said will not only  encourage more to be interested in representing the country  but will reduce of the feeling of disappointment among athletes in other disciplines other than football.

    “Only footballers are appreciated in the country and that is very bad.  We are all athletes and all should be treated equally. In other sports if they manage to give you $5,000 they expect you to be very excited, we have passed that stage.  Athletes need funds to train well and ought to be appreciated.  Those who win medals should be well appreciated and not given peanuts as if they are being done a favour,”he said in a chat with TVC.

    Oduduru’s outburst is coming at time when many are calling for more support for other sports even as some of the athletes have described themselves as “orphans fighting on their own to make the best of their profession and passion without expecting any appreciation from a country where all the budgets in sports goes to football”

    This year’s African Games will take place from August 16-30 in Rabat Morocco with the Nation banking on the likes Oduduru, Blessing Okagbare among others to rise to the occasion. Nigeria finished second at the last Games in Congo with 144 Medals, comprising 47 Gold, 55 Silver and 42 Bronze. 

    Nigeria will be competing in 23 sports in Rabat viz athletics, football, table tennis, tennis, wrestling, weightlifting, badminton, judo, beach volleyball, boxing, canoe-kayak, chess, cycling, gymnastics, golf, handball. Others are karate, rowing, shooting, swimming, basketball, handball and taekwondo.

  • Oduduru could earn N180m a year —Texas Tech coach

    Texas Tech coach, Wes Kittley believes that Nigeria sprint sensation, Divine Oduduru can earn as much as N180m ($500K) a year as a professional athlete and expects the 22-year-old Delta state-born sprinter to join the professional ranks very soon.

    Oduduru is being courted by professional agents after the four-time NCAA champion was the star attraction for Texas as they won their first NCAA track and field championship last week, sweeping the men’s 100m and 200m, where he set individual records in both events.

    Kittley told www.lubbockonline.com: “I asked agents this weekend — they’re all over the place — what’s he going to be worth?”

    “They started giving me that range. Well, let’s let them bid on him … if he can get $500,000 (a year) (N180m) instead of $300,000. We’ll see.

    Read Also: Oduduru hits finals in 100m, 200m

    “I know everybody wants him. He is the hot item right now.

    “I am going to encourage him (Oduduru) to turn professional because he has turned down too much money.

    “He can tweak his hamstring next year and get nothing. How are you going to turn down $350,000 for five years or $400,000 for five years or $500,000 for five years — two and a half million dollars?

    “You can’t do it. Not in our world. Not in the track world. I mean, that’s a lot. He is a sprinter, so he has an opportunity to get some of that bigger money.”

    The next major competition on Oduduru’s schedule is the IAAF World Championships scheduled for September 27 to October 6 at Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar.

     

  • Oduduru leads Texas Tech to 1st national title

    Nigeria sprint sensation, Divine Oduduru’s stand-out performances at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Outdoor Championship last weekend led his school to win their first national title.

    The Texas Tech 2019 track and field team became the first men’s athletic team to win a national championship for the school as they topped the competition in Austin, Texas.

    Divine Oduduru, a two-time NCAA Champion winning 2018 outdoor and 2019 Championship swept the men’s sprints events with a collegiate-best time of 9.86s to win the 100m National Championship and getting 10 big points for Texas Tech.

    The eight-time Big 12 Champion then broke the NCAA Championship 200M record with a time of 19.73s.

    Read Also: Oduduru hits finals in 100m, 200m

    Oduduru joined senior Andrew Hudson, junior Keion Sutton and freshman Jacoby Shelton in the 4x100m relay. The quartet broke the school’s record on the first day of the NCAA Championship meet to qualify for the championship race and broke the school record for the second time with a 38.45s to come third.

    Oduduru said: “My coach told me don’t be scared. Just go and execute. Go and do what you have been doing all year.

    Meanwhile, another sprints sensation, Raymond Ekevwo joined Hakim Sani Brown, Grant Holloway, and Ryan Clark to set a new 100m relays record with the time of 37.97s.

    The quartet’s record-breaking feat helped the University of Florida to second place in the championships table.

  • Oduduru hits finals in 100m, 200m

    With a repeat of his best time this year in the sprint events – Divine Oduduru representing Texas Tech University has qualified for the finals of the men’s 100m and 200m of the 2019 (National Collegiate Athletic Association) NCAA Track and Field Championships holding in Austin, United States.

    Also in the list of the 10 track and field athletes to watch in the championships, the Delta State-born athlete was considered a major contender for the titles in the 100m and 200m.

    Oduduru, who has already set a target of a medal at the 2019 IAAF World Championship in Doha, Qatar, coasted to victory in the 100m with the best time in all the heats.

    In the 100m, Oduduru posted the best time of 9.96secs to emerge winner in Heat 3 and also booked his place in the final. His time remains the best in all the heats concluded late on Wednesday.

    In the 200m heat, Oduduru showed his class by running the fastest time of 19.97secs to win Heat 1 and also qualified for the eight-man strong field final holding today.

    Apart from competing in the finals of the men’s 100m and 200m, Oduduru will also be leading Texas Tech in the 4X100m relay final against other top teams in the race for a medal.

    Read Also: Oduduru is a world beater in 100m, 200m

    According to the website of Texas Tech, Oduduru is considered a potential medallist in all his events having run the fastest time in the 200m at 19.76secs this year to secure his place at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan.

    Oduduru ran the fastest in the 200m at 19.76, which he ran at Baylor’s Michael Johnson Invitational in April for a school record and the second-fastest time ever run by a collegiate and at the same meet, he broke the 10-second barrier for the first time in his career, running a 9.94 (+0.8), also a school record. He went sub-10 again a month later at the Big 12 Championships at 9.99secs, becoming the first in conference meet history to do so while defending his title.

    The Nigerian star also ran the second leg of a 4×100 relay that ran a school-record and conference-meet record 38.83, which ranks 24th in the world.

  • New 100m, 200m records: I worked for it, says Oduduru

    Nigerian-born sprinter, Divine Oduduru says he worked very hard before producing a world-leading performance at the Michael Johnson invitational meet in Waco Texas, USA, last weekend.

    NationSport reports that the 22-year-old became the first Nigerian to break the sub 10s barrier in almost 13 years by setting a new world fastest time in the 100m race with a time of 9.94 seconds in his first attempt and later rounded off with a time of 9.94s to win the event.

    The Texas Tech sprinter also finished strong in the 200m after running a time of 19.76 which was declared a new national record by the Athletics Federation of Nigeria as it beats Francis Obikwelu’s 19.84 time set in 1999 at the World Championships in Seville Spain.

    Just 122 sprinters in history have broken the 10-second barrier in the 100m, and only 72 sprinters have gone sub-20 in the 200m.

    “I worked for this. My coaches have always been telling me that I have to get into the moment where I can feel everything.

    “I want to say thank you to Coach [Calvin] Robinson for getting me to this point in my life and my career. We have a great team, and I want to say thank you to everyone for their love and support.

    “It’s something we do in practice. We run, time the rest, then come back and run another race. He [Robinson] said to just run it the way I do in practice,” Oduduru said after the race.