United States-based Udodi Chudi Onwuzurike, who specialises in the men’s 200m, will carry Nigeria’s flag aloft this weekend at the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold Boris Hanžeković Memorial in Zagreb, Croatia, Sports247 reports.
It will be another opportunity of bringing glory to Nigeria by Udodi, who was born in the USA but opted to represent his father’s country and was a gold medallist at the World Athletics U20 Championships in 2021.
Onwuzurike, who also competes for Stanford University and is an alumnus of Brother Rice High School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, USA, holds dual citizenship, but never hides that his allegiance has always been for Nigeria.
The 23-year-old sprinter, who cites former Nigeria and Africa 100m record holder, Adetokunbo Olusoji Fasuba as one of his major influences, has represented Nigeria at several major international competitions, including 2022 Commonwealth Games.
He was also at the 2022 African Championships in Mauritius, where he reached the 200m final but finished fourth, then got to both the 100m and 200m finals at the 2023 African Games in Accra, Ghana.
Onwuzurike then competed at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, but placed fifth in his heat, then won his repechage to qualify for the semi-final where he was eliminated by placing last, but he still flaunts a 200m personal best of 19.76 set in 2022.
The ambitious sprinter, who also has a 100m personal best of 9.92, which he got in 2023, heads to Zagreb with memories of the 200m gold medal he won at the 2021 World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya in a time of 20.21 seconds.
A preview by World Athletics’ media unit noted, “Canada’s Tokyo Olympic champion Andre De Grasse races the 200m, up against Benjamin Richardson and Udodi Onwuzurike, while Bassant Hemida is another athlete in PB form.
“(Attention is on her) following the Egyptian record of 50.10 she set to win the 400m in Hengelo. This time her competition over one lap includes Stacey-Ann Williams and Yemi Mary John.
“Emma Zapletalová returns to the track fresh off her Doha Diamond League 400m hurdles win in 52.30 – a mark that improved her own world-leading Slovakian record and moved her to sixth on the world all-time list.
“The 110m hurdles is the event’s memorial race, named after Croatian hurdler Boris Hanžeković. It offers another clash between USA’s world champion Tinch, Xiamen and Shanghai winner Jamal Britt, and Kendry Menéndez.
“Jamaica’s Thompson-Herah races in Europe for the first time since 2023 as she headlines the 100m during the main programme on Friday. The five-time Olympic gold medallist ran 10.92 in Kingston in April.”
