Udodi is better suited for 200m, says father

Udodi

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United States-based athletics coach, Chris Onwuzurike, whose son, Udodi, is one of Nigeria’s brightest hopes for medals at this year’s World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, has said his son will do better in 200 metres than 100 metres. He adds, however, that he will allow the athlete to decide, which event to feature between the two.

Two years ago at the World U-20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya, Udodi emerged as one of the country’s biggest stars, grabbing the 200m gold for Team Nigeria in a sensational way. And on Wednesday, Udodi soared in the latest rankings released by World Athletics from 25th last year to 16th best this year, after he won the NCAA 200m title, and running inside 200m thrice in under one month.

His 19.76 seconds finish in the semifinals saw the 20-year-old sprinter move to No 2 in the Nigerian all-time best list in the event behind Divine Oduduru (19.73 seconds).

Udodi also ran a new lifetime best of 9.92 seconds in the 100m en route the final at the NCAA event last week in the United States.

Speaking with The Guardian from his base in the United States, yesterday, coach Onwuzurike stated that it might be counterproductive for him to choose for his son the event to feature at the World Championships in Budapest.

“Udodi has qualified for the World Championships in both the 100m and 200m. If I had my way, he would concentrate on 200m, because as a coach, I feel he has more prospects of making it to the final and even winning a medal for Nigeria. But I will allow him to choose for himself.”

“I don’t want a repeat of what happened to him last year when he competed in both the 100m and 200m events and got burnt out. Udodi has the talent to become