Nigeria’s Divine Oduduru came last in the third semi-final heat for the 200 metres race at the IAAF World Athletics Championship in Doha on Monday night, meaning he will not be in reckoning for the final race on Tuesday.
Like Blessing Okagbare, he was initially disqualified by the IAAF from participating after a no-show in the 100 metres race, blamed on an error in registration by the Nigerian Athletics Federation.
But IAAF reviewed his case and allowed him to take part in the first heat on Sunday. He qualified for the semi-final heat, only to crash out with worst time of 20.84 seconds. Oduduru is ranked 10th in the world and had recorded season-best of 20.08 indoor and 19.73 outdoor this year.
The semi=final heat was won by Canadian Andre De Grasse with a time of 20.08. Kyle Greaux from Trinidad and Tobago returned a time of 20.24 to qualify for the final round.
Another qualifier for the final race is Noah Lyles from USA and favourite for the gold medal. He returned a time of 19.86.
Others are Alex Quinonex from Ecuador, Zhenye Zie from China, Adam Gemili from UK, Ramil Guliyev, Turkey, and Aaron Brown from Canada.
Oduduru will now concentrate on the 4×100 metres relay race.
Discussion about this post