NIGERIAN sprints star Favour Ofili has officially announced that she is switching nationalities from her country of origin and will now be competing for Turkey.
There were reports of the change of allegiances last month, but it was not until Monday night that the 22-year-old rising athlete confirmed her decision.
Ofili took to social media to make the announcement, insisting that it was not due to financial inducement but the incompetence of the Athletic Federation of Nigeria (AFN) and the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), who both combined to make her miss the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and part of the Paris Games last year.
“Wrapping up my 2025 season has been a whirlwind of new experiences and big decisions. Racing back-to-back across amazing cities and learning from the best has been incredible,” Ofili stated on her Instagram and X accounts.
“As some of you have heard, I’m also starting a new chapter representing Turkey.
“I am proud to have represented Nigeria for many years in a highly successful way!
“Having won SIX gold medals, TWO silver medals and TWO bronze medals in championship meets and being a 200 metre Olympic finalist while experiencing the biggest disappointment from AFN and NOC towards me.
“Negligence towards me In Olympics (Tokyo/Paris). I have made this decision.
“While that means sitting out this year’s championship in Tokyo, this change comes from the heart, not from financial motives. I’m truly grateful to have discovered a new home in Turkey.
“I’m excited for what’s ahead and grateful for all the support I got from my coach, agent, sponsor Adidas and my loved ones during this difficult time.#onestepatatime.”
Ofili is the only Nigerian woman to go under 22 seconds in the women’s 200m, and she holds the National Record in this event with a lifetime best of 21.96s.
She has represented Nigeria at major championships from a young age: the Youth Olympics (Buenos Aires 2019), World Athletics Championships (Doha 2019 and Budapest 2023), Olympic Games (Paris 2024), Commonwealth Games (Birmingham 2022) and multiple African Championships.
Ofili, based in the United States of America where she is at Louisiana State University, won gold medals for Nigeria at the African Games in 2019 and the World U-20 Championships in 2021, as well as silver at the Commonwealth Games in 2022.
She was one of several Nigerian athletes who were unable to compete at the Tokyo Olympics because they did not complete the mandatory number of doping tests.
Ofili also missed out on the 100m in Paris despite having qualified, as she was inexplicably not registered for the race by the AFN and NOC.
She joins Glory Alozie (Spain) and Francis Obikwelu (Portugal) as high-profile Nigerian athletes to switch nationalities after representing the country at major championships.
Ofili will miss the World Championships in Tokyo this month due to World Athletics eligibility rules, and will be free to represent Turkey from 2027.