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Divine Oduduru
Nigerian sprinter From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Ejowvokoghene Divine Oduduru (born 7 October 1996) is a Nigerian sprinter specializing in the 100-meter and 200-meter dash.[8] He holds personal bests of 9.86 seconds for the 100 m and 19.73 seconds for the 200 m. The latter is a Nigerian national record.[9]
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In age category competitions, he was a twice-champion at the African Youth Athletics Championships,[10] a five-time African Junior Champion in the sprints[11] and the 200 m silver medallist at the 2014 World Junior Championships.[12] He represented his country as a senior athlete at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2014 African Championships in Athletics, before winning 200 m silver medals at the 2015 and 2019 African Games as well as the 2018 African Championships.[13]
He is a two-time Nigerian national champion[14] and is a four-time NCAA champion in American collegiate competition, running for the Texas Tech Red Raiders.[15] He is sponsored by Puma.[4]
Oduduru is currently serving a six-year ban set to expire in February 2029 for anti-doping rule violations.
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Career
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Under-20 competition
He was the gold medalist in both the 100 metres and 200 metres at the 2013 African Youth Athletics Championships.[16] He was a finalist in the 200 m at the 2013 World Youth Championships in Athletics.[17] He won the 200 m at the 2013 African Junior Championships[17] and was also a member of the Gold medal winning 4 × 100 m relay quartet.[18] He successfully defended his 200 m title at the 2015 African Junior Championships and also added the 100 m and 4 × 100 m gold medals to his tally.[19] This made him a five-time African Junior Champion.
Oduduru became known for his interviews, with his interviews at the 2013 World Youth Championships in Athletics gaining popularity among fans, including his phrase 'deadly day'.[20][21] Memes and videos have been generated using his responses to journalists. He lamented the inadequate support for Nigerian athletes and made a plea for sponsorship during the 2016 Nigeria Championships.[22]
In 2014, he dipped under 21 seconds for the first time. He became the Nigerian National Champion in the 200 metres.[23] After setting a PB of 20.66 s in the semifinals at the 2014 World Junior Championships, he went on to win the silver medal in a windy 20.25 s behind Trentavis Friday of the US.[24]
Senior career
He led off the Nigerian 4x100 metres relay team at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, a team supported by former American athletes, Monzavous Edwards and Mark Jelks, who were running for Nigeria in their first international relay.[25][26]
Due to illness, he pulled out of the 2015 Nigerian Championships and could not defend his 200 m title. He, however, bounced back for the All-Africa Games in Brazzaville. Oduduru ran a PB of 20.45 s into a headwind of 1.2 m/s to win the silver medal behind Ivorian sprinter, Hua Wilfried Koffi.[27] His team mate and 2015 Nigerian champion Tega Odele placed third. Oduduru was selected for the 200 m at the 2016 African Championships in Durban. After posting the second-fastest time in the semifinals, he did not run in the finals due to injury.[28]
At the 2018 Michael Johnson Invitational meet in Waco, Texas, Divine improved his personal best in the 100 m to 10.10 s, improving the Texas Tech school record by 0.01 s.[29][6] A year later at the same meet he improved his personal bests and set world-leading times of 9.94 s and 19.76 s, in the 100 m and 200 m respectively.[7] His time in the 200 m broke the national record of 19.84 s set by Francis Obikwelu in 1999.[30]
During 2019, he focused mainly on collegiate competition. He set a personal best in the 60-meter dash at the 2019 Big 12 Indoor Championships, running 6.52 seconds for the distance to win the regional title. He also won the 200 m Big 12 Indoor title.[31][32] At the 2019 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships he won the 200 m title and placed seventh in the 60 m final. At the Big 12 Outdoor Championships, he won the 100 m in 9.99 seconds, having broken the 10-second barrier for the first time at the earlier Michael Johnson Invitational meet. He also helped the Texas Tech Red Raiders to the 4 × 100 m relay title. At the 2019 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships, he won a sprint double in the 100 m and 200 m, as well as taking third in the 4 × 100 m relay. His 100 m time of 9.86 seconds was the fastest in the world at that point of the season, and his 200 m time of 19.73 seconds was a championships record.[33]
Oduduru made his debut on the 2019 IAAF Diamond League circuit at the 2019 Herculis meet, but finished in last place.[8]
Doping ban
In October 2023, Oduduru was issued with a six-year ban for anti-doping rule violations relating to use of human growth hormones and EPO.[34][35] The ban is set to run until February 2029 with all of his results from July 12, 2021 were disqualified.[36] The investigation was connected to the case of Blessing Okagbare, his compatriot who was banned for 11 years in 2022.
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Statistics
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- Information from World Athletics profile.[8]
Personal bests
Seasonal bests
 | This graph was using the legacy Graph extension, which is no longer supported. It needs to be converted to the new Chart extension. |
| This graph was using the legacy Graph extension, which is no longer supported. It needs to be converted to the new Chart extension. |
International competitions
National competitions
- NCAA results from Track & Field Results Reporting System.[50]
Track records
As of September 2024, Oduduru holds the following track records for 100 metres and 200 metres.
100 metres
200 metres
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See also
Notes
- The team qualified for the final with Oduduru in the semis, but he was replaced with another runner in the final; The squad that ran in the final finished first, earning the team gold medals.
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References
External links
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